Summoning the Sun
by Mashadar
Summary: She begged for a beautiful, sacred and strong familiar. She never expected how sacred a certain white wolf could be.
1. Chapter 01

_Standard Disclaimer:__ I own neither the intellectual property for Zero no Tsukaima nor Okami. If I did, would I be writing this? Actually, don't answer that._**  
><strong>

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 01**

"_Just as our magic is the divine providence of the Founder, there is no animal more sacred than the familiar of a mage, no matter how humble it's origins." - _Bishop Lestrade, Treatises on Magic, page 84, chapter XII

* * *

><p>Where do dead gods lie dreaming?<p>

It was a place that was no place, a concept that did not hold to tenuous perceptions bound to physical reality. Light did not exist, nor did it's absence bring darkness in the infinite. In boundless time she waited in repose, not asleep, yet not awake, a being sustained only by the memories of an age long past to give shape and form of what she was and what she could be. Her name was once spoken by the souls of many, raised in praise, prayers of gratitude and petitions. Her name no longer passed through mortal lips, in neither prayer nor petition, her legacy made myth and forgotten.

What she was had become immaterial. Who she was no longer mattered. In the absence of light and darkness she drifted. A lone presence among a myriad of presences that flickered into being, some lingering, others flashing by, but all fading away to nothingness. But unlike them, she did not pass on from this state of being to begin anew. Hers, unlike the others, was not a presence permitted to continue on its own merit. The cycle of existence was denied to her, and it was here she waited forever, without awareness.

"You may begin the ceremony, Miss Valliere"

Louise took a deep breath to steady herself, not seeing but well aware of the numerous expectant looks behind her. Expecting the Zero to live up to her name, to produce another failure. Not one of those looks would bear any curiosity about what creature would answer her call, only the premature judgment of failure. And why not? It wasn't as if she could produce anything but an explosion. 'Louise the Zero' they called her. Zero for her success and zero for her magic even though her explosions were anything but mundane.

Her expression hardened as she lifted the wand.

She refused to give in to their teasing and thinly veiled insults, if at all they were ever veiled. She was Valliere, the daughter of the ancient noble line from which her name came from, her mother the powerful and famous (though some would say infamous, just not to her face) Duchess Karin Desiree. Her pedigree indisputably sprang from generations of brilliant mages and she would not shame them by giving in to weakness here. A Valliere would persevere in the face of difficulties; they would never admit defeat no matter what obstacles they faced.

She had studied every aspect of the summoning ritual, from the magical theories to the history of its creation by Founder Brimir himself. Everything there was to know about this ceremony, she knew by heart. She would not fail here, not now, not in anything.

With a sharp exhalation, she began to chant.

"_I beg of you..."_

Where once was stillness was now a ripple. A spark of light where once there was nothing, burning like a newborn star. In its wake, she drifted, a faint tugging that etched upon her entirety. And with its first feather touch came awareness, a simple curiosity at the call touching upon her presence. Who was this? Who had, at last, called upon her being? For it was her and her alone that the voice had beseeched.

"_My servant who lives somewhere in the universe!_"

A servant? Ancient pride from memory flared to the forefront of her awakened self as understanding was supplanted by offense at this one's impertinence. Many were the things she had been; a ruler, a guardian, a guide to many and a mother. But never once had she been begged to be a servant. And yet, she listened.

"_Oh sacred, beautiful and strong familiar spirit!_"

She drifted towards the light from where the voice had spoken, her passage slowly but inexorably crossing the void. Had she possessed the means to do so, she would have huffed in amusement. A sacred spirit she was, and yet was not. Her strength was but a fraction of what it truly had been, the price of her last sacrifice to save what could be preserved. All that remained was her identity, the one thing that all hardships could not strip away.

"_I desire and here I plead from my heart!_"

The words were heartfelt, an earnest plea that she could not deny. Once, in her memories, she could recall when such words were lifted in prayer, beseeching guidance and protection from the ills that afflicted those who called upon her. In those recollections, she had answered without fail, to shelter those who truly sought her aid. Such was their strength of conviction, and such was the desperation she heard now. Faster and faster she drifted, the presence of others touching upon her consciousness before parting, drifting away from their momentary contact as she approached the light of her petitioner.

For the briefest of instants, they touched.

"_Answer to my guidance!_"

Louise coughed, ignoring the stinging sensation from the smoke in her eyes as her latest attempt stared back at her. A flash of light, a deafening crack, and another pillar of smoke rising into the clear day sky. Already the catcalls were starting, the insulting voices mocking her with that oh-so-hated nickname, but she kept her back unbowed, her gaze levelled clearly forward and waited for the smoke to clear. She would not give into weakness, not now, no one could see into the summoning circle yet, and she refused to lose hope this easily.

Her excitement grew as a shape began to make itself visible in the rapidly dissipating smoke. Too small to be a dragon or manticore like she had secretly hoped for, the outline vaguely canine in appearance. But even if it was a dog, that was better than nothing, and she was not about to complain about her success. The Flood, after all, had a frog. She grinned, eager to proclaim her triumph.

The smoke cleared, and the grin turned sickly.

The shape was not that of a dog as she had first guessed, but displayed the smooth and lean lines of a wolf, with firmly bunched muscles in its haunches indicating that it was healthy one in its prime. It was almost as tall as she was, coming up to her chest with a coat of lustrous and fine fur, catching the sunlight in a way that almost made it shimmer. Watchful eyes peered out from its noble face, carrying the promise of wisdom and intelligence far beyond what could be expected in any member of the canine family. There was only one problem.

It was a statue.

She had to blink twice to make sure, even though it was in the marbled hue of stone. It was the most lifelike statue that she had ever seen in her entire life, as if it could simply get up and walk away if it chose to do so. From the tufts of fur in its ears to the way those eyes seemed to carry the spark of intelligence behind stone eyelids, she was certain that not even the most skilled earth mages would be able to recreate this work of art in all its detail.

But it was still an inanimate creation of marbled rock. A well-carved one, if one was feeling generous.

The laughter was almost instantaneous.

"A statue! Oh this is perfect, Zero! You summoned an oversized paperweight!"

She gritted her teeth, trying to rationalize her summon and silence the insults with a fiery objection as soon as one came to mind. She couldn't be a failure, she wouldn't accept it! Maybe it was a golem of some kind? It was a desperate thought, one she rejected almost as soon as it came to mind. She turned towards Colbert, hoping to beg for another try.

To her mild surprise, the teacher was willing to entertain her wild hopes much more than she had been. He was looking at the statue with a speculative gleam to his eyes, giving her an encouraging pat before she could even open her mouth.

"There are records in the libraries of certain elemental creatures. Earth elementals tend to stay very still when surprised," he began, giving her a congenial smile as he practically read her mind, "and it is certainly worthwhile to try binding it first. At least make the attempt before you think your summoning to be a failure."

She bit back her original protest, letting it die unspoken as she listened. So what if her peers were so willing to jump on her and proclaim her a Zero? If Colbert had born the same thoughts as she did and stayed with them, how could she do any less? She would be betraying her own convictions then. And if he was right, if she was right, then her familiar was there, waiting for her to prove that she truly was its master. She'd show all her detractors how wrong they were, everyone who'd thought she was just a Zero.

_She'd show them then,_ _**she'd show them all!**_

Still, she felt remarkably silly as she brought her wand on the statue's forehead, chanting the final stages of the summoning spell. She ignored the jeers that came from the crowd when she bent down to kiss the wolf statue on the nose, surreptitiously praying that this would work. She would never live it down if word got around that she had kissed a statue for naught.

Straightening her back, she looked down at her possible familiar, harbouring the faint hopes that it would move on its own accord now. Nothing happened. But before the treacherous touch of despair could touch her, there was a loud cracking noise, sending her back a step.

A crack had run down the statue, spidering all across its surface as flakes of stone fell away to reveal veins of brilliant white light. The cracks increased in tempo to an avalanche of crackling sound, the light growing to blinding intensity that she barely raised a hand in time to shield herself from.

From somewhere very far away a wolf howled, an echoing, mournful sound that shook the Valliere scion to her bones.

Lowering her hands when the light faded moments later, Louise took one look at where the statue had been, and gasped.

What had been a statue of a wolf had transformed itself into a living one on its haunches. A noble face matched her gaze with watchful golden eyes that carried the promise of wisdom and intelligence far beyond what she had believed possible in a wolf. But what caught her attention was not its eyes. It was its coat.

White. She had once glimpsed bears claimed to have been caught in the northernmost parts of Helkeginia, where snow was a constant reality to those living there throughout the year. Their coats had been milky white, so much so that she could easily imagine them disappearing in a field of snow if one did not look closely. Comparing their fur to that of the wolf that stood before her was like comparing commoners to royalty. The wolf's coat was of the purest white, like untouched snow so pristine one hesitated to touch it for fear of marring its beauty.

"Beautiful," she breathed, drinking in the sight of her familiar. The only marking upon its coat was a swirl of burgundy upon its forehead, a singular oval shaped pattern that was not unlike the runes she had studied before, but far more curved and graceful. But even then, it only accented the otherworldly beauty of the wolf sitting before her.

She met its golden eyes with her own, and for a moment, she was transfixed by its gaze. The other familiars before hers had all been wary, watching their summoners with a cautious air as the ceremony was closed. But there was only the calm and watchful gaze here, matching her stare with a serene one. An epiphany struck her then, that it was weighing her, evaluating her worth as much as she was judging its own. But there was something else there, a wry warmth she had missed, not quite inviting, but there all the same. It reminded her a little of her oldest sister.

She was strongly tempted to reach down and stroke its pristine fur. It was a temptation she gave into, just for a little bit. Her familiar responded by tilting its head up, permitting her easier access to its chin.

It was a wolf, and yet, she knew with certainty that it was more than just a mere beast. It was not quite the dragon that she wished for, but she was more than pleased with the result. Not bothering to hide her triumphant expression as she turned back to the unusually silent crowd, including the shocked expressions on her more irritating tormentors. Even Kirche seemed at a loss for words for once. She wanted to jump for joy, had she been the sort of person who would give in to such undignified displays. She wanted to crow her success to all her detractors, to rub in their faces the proof that she was a proper mage no matter what they said.

But she wouldn't.

There was something about the wolf she had summoned, a quiet dignity only enhanced by the purity of its coat and the silence of her classmates. To openly declare her success with backbiting taunts like she had intended would only spoil it.

Besides, actions spoke louder than words.

Meeting Kirche's stupefied expression with a serenely victorious smile of her own, she turned and gave a brief gesture to her familiar. "Come along then, I'm sure we have a lot to learn about each other, but let's see about finding you a place to sleep tonight first."

There was a small huff of noise from her canine familiar, but it followed her, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p>It was not the land of Nippon where she had awakened, that much was apparent to her in the first moments that she had awakened. Tsukuyomi's doppelganger hung in the sky, the blue orb flanked by a crimson brother she did not recognize. Even her hold over her own domain was but a weak and tenuous thing that would surely tax her to exert it, an experiment she did not wish to make in her frail state. The differences became so much more pronounced as her domain ebbed beyond the sky, allowing the night to come. The stars and constellations were different as well, where were the strings of tsuzumi boshi?<p>

In contrast, the flows of magic were rich and stronger than any time she had remembered, the five elements so familiar to her that they could not have been from the distant western lands. And if she listened carefully, she could hear the distant murmurs of spirits who dwelled within the land, similar in form and purpose, yet different from those she had once known, their names a mystery to her.

She glanced back at the girl who had brought her here, padding over to the bed where she lay in sleep. Such a strange shade of hair she had, not the colour of ink as was proper, but a pale shade of pink like the cherry blossoms of home. She was not Nipponese and yet, filled with the spontaneity of the _ku_ strong enough to match any spirit user of Nippon. She was young, this one, far too early in life to have mastered her potential yet. But for one such as her to be called from beyond that timeless void, the girl must be very strong indeed, and would only grow to greater heights with time and discipline.

She had been many things in her long existence; countless roles she had played to those who beseeched her presence and aid. At times she gave guidance or blessings that their tasks would become less daunting to accomplish.

But no one had ever called upon her presence in a manner such as this and to create a bond of spirit in the moments of her awakening. It was a ritual that connected the two of them in ways that went beyond the flesh, a yearning of soul that allowed her to feel the girl with means beyond her in born senses. Even with her reduced strength, she had been certain that she could have shaken the bonds settling upon her. But she had permitted it, for she was curious about the one whose voice had spoken from the heart and possessed the strength to reach beyond the auspices of the bridge keeper. She had allowed the touch of essence upon her soul, felt its lingering touch etch itself upon her being. It had brought with it the faintest trickle of her true essence, mingling with her being as it marked her body with renewed strength. It had also brought knowledge of the girl's true hopes. A champion, she had begged for, a guardian and companion to accompany her through her life.

To be called upon as a saviour was not an unfamiliar cry she had answered, but no one had ever called her to be a guardian before.

It was a strange feeling, but one she did not mind so very much.

She padded to the open window, where the soft breezes carried the scents of the night to her keen nose. A land she did not know, perhaps a world far beyond the light of the Celestial Plains. It was frighteningly different from all she had become accustomed to, and perhaps a little exciting.

With a light jump, she passed through the portal, feet finding purchase on the smooth stone of the castle tower as she navigated its steep slopes with an easy gait. She let the scents and senses guide her feet, feeling the dense tsuchi packed into the stones that she touched, the feather touch echoes of kaze, whispering from the slumbering forms of the other spirit users. It was like the ancestral dojos of lineages where spirit users flourished. But so many! She chuffed in surprise, descending from the tower annex to the courtyard below. Surely they could not all be from the same line?

Ah, but there was another in the courtyard, the presence of the human permitting her to still the wandering thoughts to confront the present. A woman who carried an empty basket in her hands as she made her way across the garden, a maidservant perhaps. She would have ignored the young woman dressed in black and white, but her scent, her spirit, they were different. Not a being or trickster in masquerade, undeniably human, she was still different from all of the other humans she had met earlier that day. But _familiar_. She smelled of Nippon.

"Ah!" the woman backed up in surprise as she spotted her canine form, almost dropping the basket of cloth that she had been carrying in her arms. The woman's surprise gave way to fear, itself quickly subliming to curiosity when the wolf she saw remained sitting. A minute passed in silence as they watched one another, the woman eventually cocking her head to the side as her curiosity turned speculative. "And how did you get in here?"

She cocked her head to the side rather than replying. A moment later, and the woman laughed softly as she answered her own question. "Through the summoning ceremony I wager. You must be that familiar I heard so much about. They said one of the students had summoned a wolf, but they never told me how pretty your coat is."

There was a chuff of amusement at that. She had borne many descriptions before, but nothing quite as simple as 'pretty'. It was, she decided, not a bad thing. She rose to approach, lifting her nose to look inquiringly at the woman who smelled of dust, soap and spices.

"You're a friendly one, aren't you?" The maidservant laughed softly, extending hand to stroke the white trimmed head. "Your master must be a very lucky person to have you."

She flicked her ears at that in annoyance; though they were bound together now, she was not certainly a shikigami to be bent to every whim of an onmyōdō summoner. But the maidservant knew no better, and she found little reason to correct the misconception, allowing the woman to run calloused fingers through her fur. For a brief moment, she entertained the thought that the woman of Nippon would remember her true name and nature. But no, it did not seem that it would be so.

The woman tittered, catching her attention. "You're really white all over. It's like you're made of snow-" She stopped suddenly, giving the wolf a speculative look, "You wouldn't happen to be named Shiranui as well wouldn't you?"

She could not help the inquisitive whine that escaped from her throat even as her ears pricked. It was a name she knew well, from an era that could truly be called a lifetime ago. Once she had worn the name while in this very form, bestowed upon her by grateful villagers when she had sealed away their anathema. Could this girl...?

"And you saved a village from an evil eight-headed dragon hundreds of years ago as well, didn't you?" The titter became a giggle as the maidservant saw her reaction, which was to suddenly bolt upright in surprise. The girl truly did know, or someone had told her the tale.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing like that." The woman wiped her eyes with one hand, stroking the wolf's white mane with the other. "My grandfather used to tell me stories of a white wolf just like you with that name." Of its own accord, her tail wagged. "But that's just a fairy tale from a long ago time."

Disappointment filled the huff as she slumped to the floor, eliciting a questioning sound from the woman. She did not respond to it, not right away. To be forgotten and remembered only as a children's story, she did not want that fate. But she took heart in the knowledge that even if the woman had dismissed the tale of Orochi as myth, her forefather had kept it to heart well enough to pass it onto his descendants. If the choice was to be nameless or bear the name of her past self, then she would sooner the latter. If but only to keep that memory alive. Her other name, her true name, she would keep for her own until a time when it was wise for people to know. She let her intentions be known with a soft bark.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

She barked again, nosing the woman's palm twice.

"You want to hear the whole story?

She huffed at that, turning her chin away disdainfully at the suggestion. She had lived the story herself, what need did she have for its retelling?

"No..." Puzzlement filled the maidservant's eyes as the wolf pawed once at the ground, but quickly grew to understanding as it barked twice in rapid succession, pawing her nose as it did so. "Oh... oh! You mean that's really your name?"

This time she dipped her head in imitation of the human way of assent, bringing a wide smile to the girl's face.

"I understand then, Shiranui. I'm Siesta by the way." The maidservant eyed her with an appraising look on her face. "You're a terribly clever wolf, aren't you? Just like in the stories." She giggled at her reaction, obviously seeing the wagging tail. Oh, if only this child knew. But such matters were beneath her; correcting the misconception would be unseemly pride she had no desire for. "And if a dragon threatens, you'll come to save me then won't you?" At the bark of approval, the girl rubbed her head fondly.

"Alright then, Shiranui, it's a secret promise between you and me."

* * *

><p>The maidservant was long since gone from the courtyard, having returned to her duties while Shiranui raced along the cool night grass alongside the walls of the tower. It was good to be called by a name again, even if it was not her true name. She pondered on the possibility of teaching it to the child who had called upon her, but decided against it. Such things would come in time, she believed, with no prompting of her own.<p>

A brief bunching of her muscles, and then she was alongside the wall, her paws finding easy purchase as she ascended to the roofs. A puzzle had been presented to her, in the form of a maidservant who knew her story, but not her true identity, and she wished the solitude of the roofs to think of what she, and this land, meant to her.

She arrived at the nexus of the roofs, connecting one wing of the building to another, where she paused to gaze at Tsukuyomi's doppelganger and its sibling. Such a wondrous land, to have two moons. Briefly, she thought if her honoured parents had a hand behind its creation, and if she had hitherto unknown brothers and sisters to provide guardianship over this land. Laying down on the sun warmed roof tiles, she let her thoughts drift to the events of the day.

But even then, to focus her mind on the woman of Nippon was not a simple task, her senses flooded with the richness of spirit from so many practitioners of the art. It was strange to her, that such a place was not besieged constantly by the beings who dwelled in the shadows, the youkai and other degenerate creatures who would consume those with power that they may bolster their own. Her ancient eight headed foe would have been delirious at the prospect of such a fine banquet for him to pick and choose from.

Unless they possessed the strength to banish such thoughts from the would be predators of course. Ah, she chuffed in amusement, but did mortals such as the humans truly need the abilities of spirit to defeat such beings? Her nemesis had not been truly slain, but sealed for all time, and with only the aid of a humble swordsman who's implacable dedication and sense of justice had helped them carry the day. Truly it was the willingness to strive for their goals, no matter how impossible, that held the core of their strength.

Her thoughts would have continued further on this path when she was interrupted by the brief swish of wind, the beat of wings too large to be a simple bird.

Instantly alert, she directed her gaze upwards, where a winged beast flew past to the tower, a diminutive figure on its back. It was but a moment to recognize the rider as one she had seen when she had first awakened. It was another girl child, one with hair the colour of sky and a face schooled to stillness when the others displayed their emotions with unseemly brashness. A few moments passed as she pondered the sight before she nodded in understanding, thinking back to her arrival in this land.

The winged beast was what the local people called a dragon, though it did not resemble the grand serpents she knew of except in the smallest of ways. Their bodies were wider than the slim forms, though not overly so, with batlike wings to give them flight when a true serpent king eschewed the necessity of such things, gliding across the clouds solely with their mastery of the elements and spirit. Instead of the short and narrow limbs she had expected, this one's were long and well muscled, like that of a hunting cat with scales the colour of the sea. This one had been summoned in the ritual that morning, she gathered that it was a coming of age ceremony for all the young ones she had seen there, to serve as a companion and guardian to the blue haired child.

Shiranui watched their flight towards the tower where the young ones slept with attentive silence, pondering what reason could compel the silent child to this nightly excursion. She did not have to ponder long, as the dragon dove suddenly at the child's direction, quickly accelerating to a blur before pulling out of a dive. A chance to see what her companion could do then, she decided as the pair continued through a series of acrobatic maneuvers. It was not the same as the graceful flight of a grand serpent, but of sharp turns and dives, often alternating between darting streaks and sudden stops with a snap of the wings. She flicked her tail at the display, understanding the true intent of the girl who rode upon the dragon's back.

A studious child who's spirit smelled of wind and winters chill, learning to fight with the support of her guardian. None of the other spirit users had attempted to do so with their bound guardians. It was something to ponder as she watched them fly. The child was a quick learner it seemed, or perhaps, one who already knew well the way of martial might and was adapting it to the air. Few were the humans she had glimpsed who could take to such quick flight easily. Yes, the more she saw, the more she was certain that this child was blooded, unlike the others who she had met this day.

It was easy to draw comparisons to the shikigami exorcists of her home. The militant families riding upon magical beings created from simple paper, ink and their own mastery of the spirits as they fought and bled as soon as they were able to give life to their creations.

It was not long before they stopped by an open window alongside the tower, the winged mount alighting upon the balcony only long enough for its rider to step off. There was an exchange of words too distant for her to be heard, even with her preternaturally sharp ears, but it seemed to be a dismissal as the creature bowed its serpentine head in acknowledgement before flying off. In the moonlight, she caught a glimpse of the girl turning her head to meet Shiranui's eyes. She flicked her ears in acknowledgement and the girl nodded in return, clearly catching the gesture despite the long distance between them.

Satisfied with her observations, she rose to her feet, prepared to return to the side of the slumbering form of the girl who had called her forth.

But the sudden change of pitch in wingbeats snatched at her attention. The dragon, devoid of its rider, was swooping down on her in a manner not unlike a predatory bird. The baser instinct of her form bayed in warning, willing her body low and feet splayed apart in preparation of a pounce. But she was the one in control, not her form, choosing instead to remain seated on her haunches as she watched the dragon's descending form. It's wings flared out with snap of rushing air, alighting upon the rooftop before her with the grace of a cat. Emerald eyes looked at her curiously as its head dipped this way and that.

She simply met her gaze in watchful silence.

It opened its mouth after satisfying its curiousity, revealing a fang filled maw to cry a "Kyuuuui" in greeting. At least, to a human and a simple wolf, that was all it would sound like.

But she had never been an ordinary wolf. Or a wolf for that matter.

All things possessed of spirit could speak, though few cultivated the ability to communicate beyond others of similar form. To many humans, it was simply meaningless noise, though she had indeed met a precious few of them who could converse with the spirit of beings. Beyond the simplicity of words, it was a communion between their spirits, conveying the truth of intent without chance of misunderstanding.

"_Puppy!"_

Such as it was.

Refraining from burying her face behind her paws, Shiranui dipped her head slightly in greeting to the dragon. A young female, the childish inflection within her spirit clear even had she not heard the meaning behind her words, but one with boundless energy. It seemed strangely fitting somehow, that the reticent young spirit user would be find companionship with such an enthusiastic being. But to be called a _puppy _by one of all things... she huffed. It was pride talking again, and it would not do to let it take hold of her. It was not as if human children had called her as such before. Ordering her thoughts, she directed them to the dragon, not needing to vocalize them to be heard.

"_Hello child."_

The dragon reared back at her reply, wings snapping wide and tail twitching in what was clearly surprise. It crooned again, an excited pitch clearly discernible within its voice.

"_You can talk without talking!"_

She let out a startled whine at the exclamation. Young though she might be, but surely this dragon would have the experience of its elders speaking by spirit alone? But before she could puzzle on this further, the dragon recovered from its shock, head darting forward as it sniffed at her fur with exaggerated motions. She did so in return, though it was difficult not to with their proximity. The scents were strange and conflicting. There was a arid feel to her being and spirit, both cold of fleetness and warm of life intermingled with the wet dew collected in the night.

"_No.. kyui, not a puppy." _it took another sniff, and suddenly its half lidded eyes widened all the way. It's next cry carried a hushed undertone of fear. _"Spirit!"_

Shiranui lifted a paw to touch the dragon on the snout in a calming gesture before it could dart away. Even then she could not help but notice the way its muscles bunched, a hairs breadth from springing away. In truth, she was not a simple spirit, but it was the first any one had come this close to realizing her true nature and did not wish for the dragon to flee. Perhaps it thought she was an evil spirit, as preposterous as the notion could be.

"_You are correct, child." _She began simply, _"but I-"_

That was as far as she got before the dragon lunged forward, startling her back with a yipe to avoid colliding with the much larger head. She wasn't fast enough to entirely avoid the rushing creature, the snout connecting with her body hard enough to make her fall on her flanks. It didn't hurt, but all thoughts on that matter ended when her vision was suddenly filled with the eager face of the serpentine creature.

"_A spirit! Kyui, kyui! Big sis told me about spirits before. She said you were all very strong, even stronger than big sis! And angry t- eek!" _The dragon's half lidded eyes widened all the way in realization of her words and actions, jerking backwards and hunching down before the bewildered Shiranui, _"don't hurt Irukukwu, kyui! Irukukwu didn't know. Irukukwu is sorry!"_

Rising to her feet, she looked on with no small amount of confusion at the shivering dragon, who was doing its best to hide its face beneath feet wider than her whole body, 'kyui'-ing softly as she approached. For a creature who's lineage came from the great serpents of the skies, it was a display that would surely shame them. But as she observed the quivering being who nervously peeped out from between the claws of her feet, 'eep'-ing and hiding back beneath them at her gaze, she found it strangely... endearing.

Charmingly so.

Laughing to herself, she nuzzled the snout of the dragon with her nose, letting her thoughts carry the soothing tones she felt.

"_It's alright. I'm not angry."_

She was rewarded with an emerald eye peeking out from beneath a paw.

"_Kyuui... really?"_

She chuffed in amusement, letting it show with a flick of her tail rather than putting it into words. Were that this dragon a human child, she would truly be a formidable person, easily twisting the hearts of men and women around her finger with such innocent mannerisms.

"_Kyui." _Still nervous, the dragon extricated itself from the ball it had curled into, her head bowed low in contrition to Shiranui. _"Irukukwu is sorry. Irukukwu has never met a spirit before."_

She placed a paw on the dragon's head in a placating gesture. _"And now you have... Irukukwu."_

"_Kyui... you're a nice spirit. Not always mad like big sis says. But please don't tell her I told you that. Kyui!"_

"_I won't."_ It was an easy promise to give, as she knew of no other dragons like her in the time she had been here, much less one that could be Irukukwu's sibling.

"_Kyui, really? Yay!" _The nervous energy in the dragon fled at once, darting forward. Shiranui found herself yelping in surprise as she was drawn into a crushing hug with the dragons forepaws. _"Thank you, big sis!" _There was a moment of darkness before she found the side of her head utterly drenched. Still in the vice-like grip, it took a moment for her to realize what had actually transpired.

Irukukwu had licked her.

She remained catatonic for a few more seconds to internalize the sensations before she considered the implications of what Irukukwu had said. It took some squirming within its affectionately crushing hug, but she managed to level her gaze at the 'kyu'-ing dragon.

"_Big sis?" _

Irukukwu met her gaze with a gleeful one, flapping her wings excitedly. _"Mmm! You're nice, and you're older than me, just like big sis. So you can be my big sis too. Kyui!"_

Despite her normal restraint, she found her tail wagging in amused delight. Irukukwu's simplistic reasoning for adopting her as an elder sibling was so full of honest enthusiasm that she could not find the heart to deny it. Such an innocent child this one, almost deviously so. If she were to behave like this with most people, there would be little surprise if she were to end up with a string of adoptive and doting elder siblings. Idly, she pondered if the girl child who had bonded with this dragon was also a 'big sister'. With her paw, she batted the chest of the dragon, conveying her wish to be freed. It took a few tries before Irukukwu understood, but she immediately let go once she did. Pausing only long enough to bring a paw up to her head and give the wet fur a brief grooming, Shiranui touched her nose to the dragon's snout in a brief gesture of tentative affection.

"_I do not know if I can be your elder sibling. But I would not mind being one"_ She stopped, considering her next step. She had not told the maidservant, for it had not been needed. Her gifted name had sufficed there. But for Irukukwu, who had already perceived a part of her nature, it did not seem appropriate to take up a name that was not truly hers. _"And I would rather you call me by name. "_

"_Kyui?"_

"_My name is Amaterasu."_

Irukukwu's head cocked left and right as she opened her mouth, testing the words on her tongue. It did... not go as well as she hoped.

"_Amateri... Amitaro... kyuuu, your name is hard." _The dragon gave itself a brief shake of its head._ "Ammy is easier!"_

Shiranui met Irukukwu's earnest gaze, letting her amusement show in a short chuff. In the space of a single night, she had regained the assumed name she once bore, but without the maidservant Siesta understanding the truth of the matter. To Irukukwu, she had given her true name, only for it to be cropped in her attempts to speak it. And yet, she didn't mind. Not really.

"_That will suffice Irukukwu. That will __suffice__."_

It was, she decided, an acceptable start to the first day of her new life.

* * *

><p>AN: Yes, I'm not dead. And just to show that I haven't been totally idle, here's something I've been writing of late, thanks in no small part to the sometimes ingenious, sometimes insane, suggestions and ideas produced by the people down in spacebattles.


	2. Chapter 02

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 02**

"_It is undeniable that the spirits possess a magic greater than that given to us by the Founder, but it is just as undeniable that the spirits have no interest in the affairs of humans"_ _- _Bishop Lestrade, Treatises on Magic, page 67, chapter XI

* * *

><p>Tsukuyomi's doppelganger and its sibling had ebbed behind the lands, but her own domain still remained deep behind the distant lands. It was the time of twilight, when both cold light of Tsukuyomi and the warmth of her domain were denied to her. But even then, she could feel her link to it within her being. It was a tenuous thing, an echo of what she had once been, but it was still a familiar connection to her realm as inviolate as the heavens itself. It was a foolish thing to fear the loss of, for her very domain was also the center of her being, sustaining her existence as she sustained it. But this land was beyond her memory, beyond her knowledge gathered from her endless flight across the heavens in times long since past. It was a strange land, new, with many unfamiliar beings she had not glimpsed before.<p>

Strange and unfamiliar, but also one that intrigued her. She brought her thoughts to the maidservant from Nippon, pondering on what tale there would be of her forefathers journey to this place. Was he a traveller who had simply left his ancestral home, or was it a tale of stranger fates? Would the maidservant know the truth? It would be a simple matter to ask, were she able to converse in the human tongue. She flicked an ear in mild amusement at the thought, the language of humans were base and simple compared to those of spirit, yet her current form prevented such communication. To speak as a human, she required human form, and such... she huffed.

It was far too soon, and she was still far too weak to consider such measures. Even with the wellspring of faith the young dragon had placed within her, it would be the work of many days before she could regain a fraction of what she had truly been...

Her tail swished, trailing with it the echoes of her will upon creation. To her surprise, her domain resisted the beckoning, its acknowledgement of her birthright a tenuous thing that was slow to answer. Such should not be, she thought in consternation; how long had she been beyond her domain that it should become so distant to her? A shiver ran through her body as she called upon her limited reserves, creation bending to her wishes as she willed her birthright to manifest itself. Only a fraction of a fraction did she pour into her will, yet far more than such a simple call should have needed. A moment passed in silent concern, and then she felt her call answered, the bonds between her spirit and domain solidifying to what it once should have been.

It did not come immediately, such things were never her way. But with quickening speed, faster than it would be on its own accord, she felt her domain rise from beyond the horizon, banishing the darkness of night with its ascent. She stretched in pleasure, feeling the warmth of light upon her body. It was a needless act, one that served no great purpose save that it solidified the connection to her domain, lifting her spirits as her body warmed to its light.

But as her domain rose, so too did voices begin to sift through the air. Human voices, too indistinct for even her ears to interpret their words, but not enough for their tone to be missed.

A brief, mischievous streak filled her as she heard the confused and annoyed tones amongst more than one faint voice, directed doubtlessly at the unexpected early day. But she quelled the thought to send her domain back beneath the skies. It would be improper to confuse the humans so with such a blatant misuse of her powers. Despite the similarities of her current form to certain other spirits, she was not a trickster.

Padding noiselessly across the stone roof of the castle, she made her way to her young summoner's room, easily leaping from balcony to balcony until she arrived at the correct one. Even without entering the room, her ears easily caught the rhythmic breathing of her spirit user through the open window, a simple sign that the child still slumbered despite the beginnings of the day.

She chuffed in amusement at the sight. A guardian and companion this one had sought out, reaching to forbidden places and risking its guardians to entreat her service. And yet for the strength of her need, of her deepest desire, it was now clear to Shiranui that the little one did not find joy as the white wolf did in the early ascent of her domain.

Perhaps, she thought with the awakenings of mischievous amusement, she could correct that.

* * *

><p>Louise was not a morning person. She was studious, punctual and hardworking (her academic grades were all well earned) but she was not the sort of person who greeted the sun by springing out of bed full of energy. Instead, she would meet the early morning light by turning over and covering her head with her blankets. It wasn't that she was <em>lazy, <em>most certainly not, but the blankets and her bed were warm against the chill spring air. A few more minutes spent snuggled inside her comfortable bedding could certainly be justified.

So it was with a small amount of irritation that she felt something small and cold prodding her on the nose. The diminutive Valliere grumbled and mewed in annoyance, turning over in her bed as she did so. But the cold presence was back, this time on her neck. She burrowed deeper into her blankets, trying to leave behind the annoyance. She sighed in contentment as the cold thing vanished, and then suddenly stiffened as it was replaced by a wet rasping sensation _down her __**neck!**_

"Fugwaah!"

She bolted upright with an undignified shriek, throwing off her covers with one swift motion, the other hand rapidly flailing about at the unseen assailant. Unsurprisingly, she struck nothing in her sleep-hazed swings. After a few more futile swipes, the Valliere scion eventually stopped and blinked her bleary eyes, just as an indistinct white blob swam into view and blinked back at her.

"Waagh!" Louise jerked back with a frightened screech more befitting a startled bird than a member of nobility before the blob resolved into a more familiar shape.

"Familiar!" She cried out with a mixture of relief and annoyance as the white wolf whined inquisitively at her. "You, you-" suddenly the source of that wet rasping became apparent to her and any further words simply died unspoken. "You dog!" She snatched for her bedside handkerchief, wiping away at her wet and now chilly neck. Rationally, she knew that her familiar was an animal and would behave according to its instincts, albeit with the obedience any familiar would have. Being licked was hardly anything to get in a huff over; why, Cattleya's menagerie of animals often behaved similarly, and she had no shortage of that experience.

But rationality took a poor second place in the face of having her neck covered in drool the first thing in the morning as she glared down at her familiar. "Don't do-" she paused, a small voice in the back of her head telling her that something wasn't quite right. "Don't-" she tried again, only for that voice to come back, a little more insistent.

That was when she realized just how bright the light coming in through her balcony door was. It certainly wasn't the pale light of dawn, more like that of mid-morning. Her mouth opened in a wide 'O' of dismay. Goodness, was it that late already? A bolt of panic ran through her, she was going to miss her classes- wait. This was the day after the summoning ceremony; there weren't supposed to be any classes, to give the students time to become properly acquainted themselves with their familiars.

But still it was late, a quick glance at her mantelpiece clock showed it to be seven; she had already missed-

Wait.

The clock was at seven. The minute hand advanced by a fraction, as if to mock her first assumption that it had wound down.

Louise blinked, turning her head back towards the balcony, where bright sunlight was streaming through. She sighed in annoyance. Confounded blacksmith, lying to her about the clock's 'accurate' timekeeping.

She looked back at the wolf, who was gazing at her with an expectant look. It barked once, pointing a nose first at the clock, then at the balcony as if to emphasize the time. Louise frowned, lifted a scolding finger for ill mannered impertinence, took a deep breathe, and then let it out with a grumbling sigh. "Couldn't you have a more elegant way of waking me up?" She complained plaintively.

She knew it was a ridiculous request; even with its otherworldly appearance, her familiar was after all still just a wolf. Yet somehow the bark she got in response seemed far too mischievous for her liking.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong. Louise could feel the growing sense of unease within her chest, but she wasn't able to pinpoint what it was as she walked down the corridors of sleepy-faced students. It was as if something was missing.<p>

"Good _morning_, Louise~!"

Oh, _perfect._ Louise suppressed a sigh as the unease in her chest was replaced with simpler and far more understandable annoyance. It made perfect sense to her that the wary feelings she'd been getting the whole morning were caused entirely by that person.

"Good morning, Kirche," came the stiff reply as she turned to face her nemesis, trying not to react to the too-cheerful tone in the Zerbst's words. Kirche-senses tingling or not, she wasn't going to make it easy for the shameless Germanian to provoke her.

The Zerbst sashayed down the hallway with her flame-tailed familiar in tow, but rather than acknowledge the reply and walk past Louise, the taller redhead came to a stop in front of her with a speculative smile on her face.

"What do you want, Kirche?"

Kirche pressed a hand against her chest and puffed it out, deliberately Louise bet, as she put on a faux-hurt expression. "Why, only to exchange pleasantries of course, I'm no barbarian," she grinned, "but I am surprised to see you up so early."

"Only you would think it's 'early'." She replied haughtily, glowering at the tanned redhead. Despite the fact that it was already mid-morning and she had washed up, she still felt as if she could do with another hour or more in bed. Having Kirche, of all people, rub it in only annoyed her further.

The redhead tsked, placing a palm on her cheek as she did so. "Poor, poor Louise. Zero magic, and also zero observational skills."

"What are you blathering about this time?" Louise growled, her left eyebrow twitching at the familiar insult,

"Look out the window Valliere," she replied simply, "The sun is a little higher than it should be for this hour, don't you think?"

Louise gaped. Out of all the possible replies she had imagined, this one hadn't been among them. "What nonsense are you talking about? The sun is the sun, it doesn't just move about at a whim! Have all your brains go into that shameless chest of yours?"

The wolf beside her dipped its head and whined inquisitively, but Louise ignored it, focusing on her rival instead.

"Honestly Louise, you make so many remarks on these," she folded her arms under her breasts, puffing them out for emphasis, "that one could easily think you're quite jealous of my assets."

Louise felt her cheeks go incandescent. "W-w-w-what!" She practically shrieked, "I am NOT jealous of your ridiculously huge breasts! They're so large, I bet they sag!"

"Oh, but Johann didn't think so," Kirche tittered, setting her breasts to jiggling with a well-timed flounce, "And neither did Pierre, Keith, Phillipe, or-"

"Enough! I won't hear anymore of your shameless corruption of Tristain's nobility!" Louise stabbed an accusing finger at her rival. "You Zerbsts are all the same, stealing from your betters."

"Tch Louise, I'm no thief," She pouted, but the wide grin came back a second later. "They were all quite willing to come to me on their own. Maybe if you Tristanians were not quite so prudish, Zero, your ancestor's fiance might not have run away..."

Louise closed her mouth with an audible click. She was not going to succumb to this hussy's goading. She was not going to give her the pleasure. She was not grinding her teeth. No, no no. That was just some workmen grinding mortar. Clearly. "W-well!" You can't say that I'm a zero now! I summoned a familiar after all, so that means I'm a proper mage. So there."

"Well~," Kirche sing songed, "I'll give that you summoned a familiar alright."

Louise folded her arms and smirked triumphantly.

Kirche's grin widened as she continued. "But even a Zero can get lucky once in her life. I'll bet you ten new gold that your next spell will be a complete and utter failure," she mocked, turning Louise's smirk upside down, "and didn't you say you'd get something better than a dragon? Oh, your wolf is a pretty thing, I'll admit, but not quite so impressive as a fire salamander. Isn't that right, Flame..." The redhead mirrored Louise's now missing smirk as she turned towards her familiar for affirmation, only for the expression to be replaced by one of surprise.

Somehow, without either magi noticing before it happened, the fire salamander had rolled onto its back, flaming tail curled upwards so it didn't set the carpeting on fire. And beside it, the white wolf that was Louise's familiar had placed a paw on its belly.

"Flame..." her voice was flecked with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity. "what exactly are you doing?"

The question was echoed by Louise, though directed at her familiar instead.

The salamander didn't respond; the creature remained still and unresponsive save for the occasional twitch of its burning tail. But the wolf did, turning its head towards Louise and barking once in response.

Somehow, it sounded triumphant.

* * *

><p>Louise eyed the cake in front of her. It was one of her favourites, strawberry and cream, one that she didn't get quite often enough in her opinion. Across the table, her familiar eyed the cake with equal intensity. Louise stared at it. Technically, her familiar shouldn't even be here. The Alvis dining hall was reserved for the students, noble guests of the academy, and the teaching staff of course. Familiars were not permitted by custom, and ate outside in the academy grounds. She had used her position as a Valliere to argue for the exception, and not just because she wanted to show all her detractors that she had succeeded where they had expected her to fail, but also because Kirche. The Germanian had kept giving the wolf disbelieving looks after what had transpired earlier, and she wanted to keep things that way for as long as possible.<p>

Looking at her cake and feeling as if her intentions were being contested, she wondered perhaps if that had been a rash action on her part. Tall enough that even on its haunches its face rose above the table, the wolf stared at the confection. It didn't react when she reached out with a fork to cut off a slice of the cake, but there was something in the look it gave her that prevented her from spearing the confectionery. Patient, watchful, and expectant.

She stared at it for a few seconds longer, before coming to a firm decision. No, it was her cake. The wolf was her familiar, but she was the master. Mages and their familiars shared many things, but masters were the ones who held the rights of what to give their familiars. She was appreciative of what the wolf had done to silence that Germanian hussy, even if she still wasn't clear entirely on what had transpired between the wolf and the fire salamander, which meant a reward of some sort was in order. But not the cake, that was hers.

The wolf stared back.

"I hope you appreciate this." Louise muttered at the wolf as she picked up half of her strawberry and cream cake and pushed it across the table. On the other side, her familiar wolfed down the confection, wagging its tail as it did so. The pinkette huffed, and focused on her own cake. Her familiar had better not get too used to this, she thought between bites. It would give the wrong idea if all it took to erode her will was a staring contest with a wolf.

A few minutes later, when the cake was nothing more than a fond memory, Louise was facing her familiar once more, the wolf having rounded the table to sit at attention before her.

"You're going to need a name, you know." She began without much preamble, the wolf straightening a little more at her words. It cocked its head to the side, letting out an inquisitive whine. "It will have to be certainly something suitably elegant, much more imaginative than that Germanian's pick." She harrumphed, cupping her chin with her fingers, "Flame indeed, hmph, that just goes to show how little thought she puts into things. No, you'll have something better than that. Since you're a..." she frowned, "you know, I never did check whether you were a boy or girl."

The wolf cocked its head, rapidly flicking its ears in what she thought was annoyance.

"A girl maybe?" She hazarded, getting an happy bark as a reply. Louise smiled, pleased with her guess. "A girl then. As for your name, maybe... Josephine would be suitable. Or perhaps Liselle- what's wrong with you?"

Somewhere in between her musings, her familiar had gone from sitting upright to prone on the floor, with her forelegs covering her ears and face. It whined at her.

"You don't like those names?"

She got two barks in rapid succession.

Louise stared, then frowned as she planted her fists on her hips. Her familiar was clearly cleverer than she had first taken it for, if it could understand her intentions and meanings on that level. Most familiars tended only to share an empathic bond with their masters, understanding intent easily enough, but frequently not the nuances like whether a name was objectionable or not. The wolf was clever, but clearly also more willful than she had expected.

She spared a thought or two to chastise her wolf for this minor rebellion, but no. She'd just had cake after all, there was no reason to spoil her good mood. "Well, I can't just keep calling you 'familiar'; you need a name."

Her familiar whined, uncovering her face to paw at the ground with her forelegs.

"I can't understand what you're trying to get at with that. If you can't explain what it is you're trying to say, you'll just have to make do with the names I can come up with."

It was a patently ridiculous challenge of course. The bonds made familiars more able to understand their masters, not the other way around, and she certainly didn't speak wolf.

Rather than acquiesce however, her familiar perked up at the words, looking around for a few seconds before shooting off like an arrow.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!" She cried, half starting from her chair.

But her alarm was short lived as the white wolf only headed for a nearby serving maid, chuffing once to gain the servant's attention. A few barks, a meaningful look and a short tug on the uniform later, Louise found the confused looking maid herded into her presence by the wolf.

"Uhm, is there something you would like me to get for you?" The black haired maid guessed.

"No, my familiar brought you here on her own," she dismissed the maid out of hand, turning her attention to the wolf who was seated between the two of them with a look that was almost pleading. It took a few seconds for her to puzzle out her familiar's intention, but a scowl settled on her face once she did. "I don't know what's gotten into, you silly dog. You're my familiar, and I'm not going to have a commoner name you."

The wolf cocked its head at Louise and huffed, turning to face the maid again and whining inquisitively at her.

"I... I don't know if that is a good idea, she's your master, after all." The maid stammered at the wolf, the response getting more than just a raised eyebrow from Louise. What was the commoner playing at? Could she _understand _the animal? It was a ridiculous. A rhyme dragon was certainly intelligent enough to converse with humans, but they were all but extinct, and she'd never heard of a rhyme wolf. The other idea, that the maid, a _commoner _at that, could talk and understand animals was just too far-fetched to believe.

"Just ignore her and get back to your duties or whatever," Louise muttered irritably at the maid before turning on her familiar, "as for you! What in the Founder's name were you thinking by bringing a maid here?"

The wolf huffed at her, flicking its ears and turning back to the maid. It whined, pawing at the ground as the black-haired woman fidgeted.

"You'd better not be saying you want _her _to name you." Louise grumped, her good mood from that morning starting to dissolve.

"Oh, but that would be just precious to know, now wouldn't it?" A new, but familiar, voice cut in, completing the disintegration of Louise's mood.

"Go away, Kirche," Louise glared at her rival. Oh why couldn't an angry glare shoot lightning bolts? "This is none of your concern."

"Oh pooh Valliere, it looks interesting, so that's enough reason for me." The striking redhead tittered as she sauntered over to the white wolf. "If your familiar doesn't want you naming her, you must have come up with some truly horrible names. And what do you have to say about this then, my fine white wolf? Do you want the maid to name you rather than your master?" She chortled, placing a hand on her chest. "Or perhaps you'd prefer it if I were the one?"

"Zerbst! Y-y-y-you-" Louise sputtered, her face starting to take on the shade of her hair. "How dare you!"

"Very easily, Louise." She replied breezily, turning her attentions to the maid. "What about you, hmm? Do you have a suggestion?"

The maid meeped, nearly jumping back a foot as she shook her head so rapidly it threatened to fly away. "N-no! I would never dare. It's just that..." she clamped her mouth shut.

"That?" Kirche prompted, the question echoed a moment later by Louise, though with more than a tinge of annoyance.

"She resembles a legend from my village." The maid blurted out.

"Oh ho _ho!_" Kirche chortled, "I am starting to see why your fine wolf here does not want any name _you _can come up with, Valliere."

Louise stared daggers at her rival. "Hmph! I can certainly think up a better name for my familiar than take it from some no-account village legend. Like Thalia the Brave, or Queen Artu-"

"Oh, but those are _human_ legends," the redhead rebutted with a dismissive wave of her hand, "I bet our maid here has a wolf legend. After all, there may be some truth to it if she can impress Flame so much like she did earlier." She laughed at the happy bark she got in reply.

"So why don't you tell us about this village legend of yours, then, hmm?"

Grinding her teeth in frustration, Louise divided her glare at her rival and familiar, eventually settling on the maid as she debated what to do. On one hand, she wanted to blast the infuriating redhead with a spell or two; only the rules against duelling and her etiquette lessons keeping her from doing so. On the other, she had to wonder what sort of wolf would be impressive enough to get a legend made after it. She sniffed disdainfully; it was probably a tale of some mangy forest wolf attacking bandits or something.

Speaking in a rush, the maid began to tell her tale.

A scant minute or two later, Louise felt her eyebrows trace a skeptical arch all the way up to her forehead. The legend was like nothing she had heard before. An eight headed hydra? The maid had mistakenly called it a dragon, but as an educated mage she knew better of course. Hydras were rare creatures, intelligent as rhyme dragons, and became more powerful and cunning as they grew older and gained more heads. But that was just a minor detail. The maid claimed her legends told of the hydra terrorising the village, demanding live sacrifices to avert its wrath. She also claimed that the legends spoke of a pure white wolf descending from the sun to stop the ritual sacrifice, defeating the hydra with ancient magic spells of fire, wind and lightning, as well as wielding unearthly weapons of great power.

The more she heard, the harder it was for Louise to not just throw up her hands in disgust. What a ridiculous tale! Even for superstitious commoners with no real education to speak of, this was just impossible. Hydras didn't demand sacrifices, once they were old enough, they just rampaged as they pleased. And as for defeating one, why, it took an experienced mage to fight an elder hydra and win. The idea that a single wolf could... wolves couldn't defeat young dragons, much less a hydra, and everyone knew they didn't have magic. Why, even among magical beasts that inhabited Helkaginia, only the now extinct rhyme dragons were able to call upon true magical spells, rather than rely on their innate natures. Never mind the tall tales of defeating hydras, the idea of her wolf being able to use magic, no matter how tempting it was to believe it... that was just impossible. Magic was the gift of Brimir to the nobility, not beasts, and she said as much.

Kirche just chortled in Louise's face, crouching low to face her familiar.

"Well, well, that's certainly quite a legend to live up to, now isn't it? A grand magical creature, with powers great as any mage at its command. And Shiranui as well, what an unusual name. Certainly not Tristanian, but a name from a far away and exotic land perhaps?" The redhead teased, tittering as the wolf wagged its tail and gave a bark of agreement. She wagged a finger. "Well, you'll have a long way to go before you start throwing spells around. Vanquishing villains and saving people is a big undertaking, you know? We may be lacking in hydras around the academy, and the since only dragon around belongs to Tabitha, maybe you should start small at first."

She pursed her lips, eyeing Louise with a speculative gleam.

"Zero-sized."

Louise felt something snap in her head.

I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, she told herself. I am the daughter of Karin the Heavy Wind. I have been taught the Rule of Steel. I have endured an entire year of all the indignities the student body has thrown my way. So I will not show weakness now where all can see and dignify such petty insults. I will not leap up and throttle that brazen harpy's neck with my bare hands for trying to turn my familiar against me. I will not break the rules of the academy by throwing my magic at her and bring disgrace to my family.

These were the words she told herself.

But her hands had other ideas, the wand snapping out in their grip as if by magic.

"Zerbst!" She hissed, the first syllables of a spell already forming on her lips. Or a promise of horrible vengeance. She wasn't sure at that point.

But a low growl, full of menace, cut through the air like a sword, disrupting her concentration and raising the hair on her neck. Her chant stopped in mid-word she looked to the wolf and blinked in surprise. Though it still sat on its haunches, her familiar was staring at Kirche, mouth opened enough to reveal a long row of very sharp fangs, the warning unmistakable.

Belatedly, she realized that the saucy smirk had fallen off her nemesis's face, replaced by a quirked eyebrow and thinned lips as she regarded the snarling wolf with a neutral expression. The Germanian hadn't taken more than a single step back, her posture neutral, but the tip of her wand poked out from beneath her sleeve for quick access. "Threats, Valliere?"

She nearly opened her mouth to deny the charge, but bit her tongue at the last moment, her own intent too fresh in her mind to ignore.

'_A familiar reflects its master,_' the words of those dusty tomes on summonings she had studied came back to her,_ 'what the familiar senses, the master does as well. What the master feels, the familiar knows. A familiar may act of its own accord in some limited manner, but always it is the master that whom the ultimate responsibility lies. In magic and in law, there is no lesser truth than this.'_

"Stop that!" she hissed quietly at her familiar even as she fumbled the wand back into its hiding place in her sleeve. She was still infuriated at the Germanian, ooh, she still wanted to throw a fireball into that smug face. She'd almost been about to when her wolf, clearly reading her intent, had interrupted by joining in, stupid familiar!

But Kirche was a mage, and a wolf was still a wolf, familiar or not. If she had cast the spell, her familiar would have surely have joined in, getting hurt or maybe killed in the process. And Louise would be in trouble for breaking the school rules on top of that. No, she couldn't let that happen. With a wrench of will, she grit her teeth and firmly stamped down on her anger.

The wolf stopped growling, huffing as turned to look at her with an tilted expression that seemed to say "What now?"

Louise brought her arms against her chest as she ignored the look, directing her attentions to the resumed smirk of her nemesis. "I've no need to threaten you" She replied acidly, "But I'll not stand for you trying to turn my familiar with your poisonous ways."

Kirche splayed her fingertips on her cleavage as she put on an expression of wide eyed innocence. "Moi, Valliere?" She tutted. "I would not dream of trying to turn another person's animal companion, but who's the one having problems finding a name their familiar would like, hmm?"

She couldn't say anything to tha- no! There _was _something she could say to that hussy. Louise crossed her arms, sniffing her nose imperiously as she did so. "I find your claims hard to believe, Zerbst. After all, which familiar was Flame grovelling to?" A grin spread across her face as Kirche's own smile faltered. At last she had the advantage! After so many months of enduring that hateful taunting, she had the upper hand now. She'd show that shameless strumpet a thing or two. "That's right, mine! Your flame salamander clearly knows its place in the presence of a superior being. If my wolf would rather be named after a legend, then maybe I will grant it that name!"

As she said that, she gave herself a mental nod. Maybe yes, yes she would name her familiar Shiranui after all. Her wolf was no ordinary one to be sure, with its unusual origins and its otherworldly coat. And then there was a mystery to her wolf familiar, she was sure of it, that let it make Kirche's fire salamander quiescent and obedient as she had seen. Now that she thought of it, so what if the name came from just a peasant tale of some likely overblown event many generations ago? It was still a story of a mighty wolf protector, was it not?

Louise turned towards her familiar, prepared to grant the name she had desired.

Except... the wolf wasn't there, or anywhere she could see. Her eyebrow twitched.

"Familiiiaaaaar!"

* * *

><p>Kirche sauntered back to her dining seat, chuckling all the way as the Valliere girl stormed out of the dining hall, clearly intent on collaring her missing familiar.<p>

It was so easy to rile up the pink haired tempest, stoking that sullen and cold shell into a bright roaring flame of indignation. So utterly adorable to watch how she burst with fire in the face of a taunt, real or imagined. And just for her. From another, the same insult would have made Louise withdraw into her little shell, which Kirche just couldn't stand. It was a favour to the pinkette, really. Better to burn bright with the flame of life, be it delightful fury or tantalizing passion, than bottle it all in. And who better to stoke that fire than the Ardent Flame?

She giggled.

Of course, with the wolf clearly having a mind of its own and the will to act on it, Kirche now had a rival for Louise's fiery attentions. Mmm... how deliciously scandalous that sounded, when worded right. The seductive Ardent Flame of Germania and the noble White Wolf of Helkaginia, competing for the hot blooded attentions of Tristains infamous Zero. She giggled again. Louise would surely burst into flames if ever heard its insinuation, literally, and all without the aid of magic too.

Not that she was so foolish as to really believe the wolf was trying to attract the pinkette's wrath. Doubtless the wolf had become tired of the rants of the girl and wandered off, seeking whatever it was that had caught its interest. And a skillful wandering it was too; Kirche hadn't even noticed the wolf departing, even though she had been facing the right direction to catch it in the act of slinking off.

She chuckled, returning to her breakfast. Such a skill at making one's self scarce would surely come in handy when dealing with the Valliere's temper.

Her amusement abruptly cut off though, when she realized that her plate was rather empty of the morning pastries she had placed there before Louise's outburst had drawn her attention. And there, on the table cloth besides the empty plate, was the faint dirty smudge of a paw print. It didn't take an honour student to put two and two together.

"Bravo, my fine white wolf. Enjoy your spoils while they last." She smirked, picking up the untouched wine glass. "I salute your first victory."

"But the next will be mine."

* * *

><p>"<em>Kyuuuiii!" <em>

The child's cry of excitement was one of unmitigated bliss, broken only by the excited flapping of her wings and the noisy enjoyment of the treats laid out before her. She savaged at the food with the eagerness of one being presented an unexpected and precious gift, pausing only to trill her gratitude to the white wolf before her.

"_Thank you, Big Sis!" _The serpentine being gushed, pausing in mid bite only to nuzzle affectionately at the white wolf beside her. The act very nearly knocked the wolf down.

Shiranui flicked an ear in bemusement, watching as the dragon child returned to the bounty she had been given. Of all the white wolf's experiences with the great serpents of Nippon, Irukukwu is one who stands unique amongst them. Even the youngest of the _naga _have conformed to the highest expectations of decorum, majestic in poise and bearing. But not this young dragon child, no. She is youthful exuberance in almost all things she does, as only a human child could be.

It makes her subtle chastisement of the red-maned child all the more poignant.

A petty thing, an act small and normally unworthy of one such as her, even as recompense for the slights that had been directed to the one she was guardian over. But there is no harm done, the abundance she has seen in this place all but gives surety that the red maned child will not be lacking, and her message would be understood.

"_Kyuuu!"_

And there was the other reason she had done so. Were she in another form, she would have smiled at the dragon's pleased trill as the last of the pastry was devoured. It was only with that warning that she was prepared for when the dragon darted for her. She placed a paw on the child's rapidly approaching snout, avoiding another exuberant nuzzle that would have surely bowled her over this time. A simple wolf would never have been able to halt the act. The child was strong, as only dragon kind could be. But she was no simple wolf. Even in her weakened state, her spirit was stronger than mortals should possess. She did not desire to be knocked down, and so Irukukwu's head came to a slow halt.

"_Did you enjoy it, Irukukwu?" _She asked, lightly touching her nose to the dragon's in a sisterly gesture.

"_Kyu! It's tasty!" _The dragon bobbed her head in agreement before she paused, blinking. _"Big Sis Ammy is strong!" _

She gave a soft bark of rueful agreement. Oh child, she pondered, what would you think if you had seen when I once walked the heights? But she swept those morose thoughts away. In time, if the fates were willing, she would travel them again.

"_Would you like some more?"_ She asked, choosing not to dwell on the past.

"_Kyuyuyui? More?"_ Irukukwu's eyes blinked again in confusion, her serpentine neck swaying left and right as she looked all around Shiranui. _"Where? Irukukwu doesn't see any more, unless kyuu... Big Sis has magic food?"_

She barked aloud, her amused laughter clear in the air as she took in the dragon's wide eyed expression. _"In a way, Irukukwu."_

"_KYUI!" _The dragon trilled to the skies above, literally dancing about as she circled the white wolf. _"Magic food! Kyuuuyuui! Irukukwu never had magic food before." _She paused in her celebration at the last word, looking sheepishly at Shiranui. _"What does magic food taste like?"_

"_You will see."_ She replied with a faintly amused tone. It is not truly magic food, for it is not conjured from nothingness. But to the dragon child, she does not believe that Irukukwu would realize the difference. Closing her eyes, she reached into herself, beyond the ties of flesh and the physical to the realm that was intrinsically her own. There, in the realm of the astral, past the ancient relics that she stored was the place where her most recent treasures resided. Some were old, hundreds of years had passed since she had placed them there, while others were fresh, only acquired that morning. Yet they remained as pristine as they were on day they were made, the touch of mortal time forbidden within her astral realm. She called upon all of them now, exerting her will upon reality as the astral became physical once more.

"_Kyuuuuuu..."_ Irukukwu breathed, her eyes opened all the way as all manner of food, still shimmering with the heat of cook fires, began manifesting on the ground before her.

A rasping croak of surprise told Shiranui that more than just the dragon child had witnessed the act.

"_Flame,"_ she chuffed, flicking her ears in greeting as the astral pouch was depleted. The fiery salamander regarded her with a curious look, leaving streamers of fire in the air as his burning tail swayed in the air.

"_You have many surprises, great wolf spirit."_ The salamander rasped enviously, dipping his head in respect. _"Your home must be a truly wondrous place indeed."_

"_Once, perhaps." _She breathed out wistfully at Flame's words, recalling her varied experiences in the lands of Nippon and the lives of those she had touched. But such an era was now beyond her reach, and to dwell for long in the past was folly. She would content herself with the present, and the company of those she found herself in.

There were others as well, creatures who were similarly bonded to the spirit users who dwelled here. And yet, she could not sense the duality of being, of the awareness of their masters hidden behind animal senses. None of the humans were watching, with only the gathered creatures bearing witness to the sight. They all clustered about her, directing their gazes between her and the banquet she had lain. Puzzlement and longing lingered within their scents, their desires clear for her to see. With a slight dip of her head, she addressed them all.

"_Would you like to join us?"_

* * *

><p><em>AN: And so the next chapter of Summoning the Sun is done. I hope this answers all your questions about whether Ammy would get to use her brush powers or not. It would have been such a shame not to include the full suite of her abilities after all. As to her having a human form, as Arashigan 16 asked, well, that's a secret~.  
><em>


	3. Chapter 03

_Disclaimer: I don't own the intellectual properties for either crosses, etc, etc. Don't sue._

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 03**

"_The element of Water may not be as destructive as Fire, as enduring as Earth or quick as Wind, but do not be so quick as to dismiss the foundation of all life as inconsequential." -_ Bishop Lestrande, Treatises on Magic, Page 59 chapter IV

* * *

><p>"What am I going to do with you?"<p>

It was with an exasperated tone that Louise asked the question, stroking the head of the white wolf at her bedside, ruffling the pristine fur under her fingers. The wolf answered with silence, eliciting a defeated sigh from the student. She wasn't really expecting an answer anyway. She should have been furious, enraged that her disrespectful dog of a familiar had run off without her permission, leaving her to chase after it like some ill-mannered beast. It would have been humiliating. The other students would have mocked her, called her the Zero with zero control over her own familiar. Only... it hadn't happened like she had imagined. Aside from that vile and uncouth Germanian hussy, the rest of the students in the dining hall seemed far too lethargic or engaged in their own discussions to bother with their usual taunts. Even the Flood kept her eyes glued to her breakfast, muttering something about 'time' and 'daylight'.

That didn't mean she wasn't angry, no. She'd still been abandoned by her familiar, the worst humiliation a mage could suffer. Kirche hadn't said anything after noticing, but that parting laugh had been so infuriating.

She'd stormed off then, looking for the ungrateful cur. She'd spent long minutes looking for the missing wolf, checking her room, the stables and the outer courtyards, growing frustrated with each passing moment. It was only by chance that she heard the confused cacophony of excited animal calls, including the trill of the only dragon in the Academy. The sounds had led her to the inner courtyard where the other familiars waited for their masters. She'd found her white wolf there.

And felt her jaw drop open.

_The familiars were all in the courtyard, a large gathering of creatures from all corners of Helkaginia. Frogs, cats, mice, dogs, owls, moles and more such mundane creatures dominated the majority, but it only served to make the exotic ones stand out even more. Beholders and salamanders numbered among the grouping; floating, or burning in one irritating case as they waited. The blue scaled wind dragon stood out the most, towering over all of the familiars even on its haunches. Beside that kind of display, the white wolf that was her familiar would seem underwhelming by comparison._

_Except..._

_Except..._

_The dragon was openly nuzzling her familiar, licking the wolf with a tongue long enough to wrap around the canine. And it wasn't the only one either. Kirche's fire salamander was rubbing against the wolf's flanks, making pleased rumbling croaks as it did so. The other familiars were not so close, but still clustered around the wolf, adding their own calls to the mix. Chirps, hisses and squeaks blended together into one incomprehensible cacophony, their voices raised like some kind of completely bizarre animal fest hall._

_She'd made eye contact with her familiar then, catching its patient look with a bewildered one. There had been a bark of acknowledgement, and the animal chorus fell silent. Louise gaped as a path had opened in the circle of suddenly silent familiars, and her white wolf had walked out in silence, pausing only long enough to turn and bark again at the dragon, who crooned a farewell._

Louise couldn't keep her anger at that point, the fury fizzling out as it was blanketed beneath her utter surprise. She had met the wolf's eyes then, black orbs that didn't hold the fear or guilt that a misbehaving familiar should have had, only a silent question, waiting for her answer.

"_W-w-well," she began, stammering a little as she tried to overcome her surprise_._ "You seem to be getting along with the familiars just fine."_

_The dragon trilled at that, while the wolf only wagged its tail, putting a half dozen questions in her mind. She was new to the business of having a familiar, but she'd seen how the familiars of the former second years had acted before. Some of the bonded animals formed amicable groups, true, in accordance to their species, or according to who their master's were on friendly terms with, the emotional bonds leaking through. But this sort of gathering- the familiars were looking at her and the wolf, all of them._

_She shook her head, drawing herself up in the most commanding manner she could muster. "But I won't have you wandering off like that without my permission. You're my familiar, and while you're with me, you're supposed to stay by my side unless I say otherwise."_

Her familiar chuffed, as if sensing her discontent through her stroking fingers. She rolled her eyes at that, letting out an annoyed huff at the memory of its response. The wolf had dropped to its haunches, tail flicking from side to side. It had continued watching her with those patient eyes, as if to say "Yes, and...?"

_Louise shifted on her foot, the other familiars watching her and the wolf in silence, as if there was a show going on. A moment later, she realized that the supposition did hold more than a pinch of truth. She flushed, stupid familiar, making her self conscious like this. But she didn't cower from the taunts of her classmates, so she refused to back down from the looks of mere familiars._

"_I'll forgive you the lapse this time," She continued on, "but there's still the matter of your name."_

_At that, the wolf's ears had pricked, the canines entire body more at attention than it had been before. Momentarily, she thought of going with some of the others she had suggested before, asserting her rights as master. But then she pushed that thought away. The wolf- __**her **__wolf, was an unusually willful being, but also special somehow in the way it had with the other familiars. And if that was the case, then... it meant that she was also special, didn't it? She was not going to belittle her achievement then, by being so stubborn over a name._

"_I name you, Shiranui."_

_The wolf barked happily in response._

And that had been that.

There had been questions she wanted to put to the wolf, silly as it was. She was more than willing to believe her wolf was special in some way, that maybe it wasn't just a wolf, but something else, something that hadn't been met by any other person before. How else could she explain the way it had brought the entire courtyard of familiars to heel? She had felt a swell of pride there and then. If her suspicions were confirmed, she would join the rare handful, the first in this century, to discover something new and unprecedented. _If_ she could confirm them that was. It wasn't like her wolf could talk in a human language now, could it?

The rest of the day had passed uneventfully after that. The other students had shown up later to claim their own familiars, spending time getting to know them as Louise did the same. She had caught more than one glance sent her way as the day passed, but nothing came of it. Even Kirche had refrained from coming over with her salamander, ready to put down Louise and familiar. But then again, she suspected the Germanian would avoid confronting her over familiars for some time, given the last outcome.

Not that she had given them much thought, engrossed as she was in finding out more about her familiar. A brief thought had been given to have her familiar try and command the others in the courtyard, but it was a gross breach of noble etiquette to interfere like that, and she had dismissed the idea. Not to mention the embarrassment she would suffer if she was wrong. But without that, and the library closed for the day, she had been left with her own devices.

That had certainly gone nowhere.

"You don't listen to me, you make a fuss over your name, and then you run off on your own without my permission. By the Founder, I really should have disciplined you. I would have been in my rights to do so, you silly dog." Louise murmured absently, her words lacking any real heat. At Shiranui's inquisitive whine, she felt her lips quirk in a half grimace. "But then you go and get all the other familiars to..." she paused, searching for the right word, "act like _that_." She waved her hand for emphasis. "Familiars don't normally behave that way with anyone but their masters."

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me how you did it?" She shook her head. "No of course not, even if you wanted to, you can't talk can you?"

The wolf flicked her tail in response.

Louise sighed, "No, of course not. So, other than making other people's familiars like you, what can you do?"

There wasn't a response this time, save only that the wolf drew her head back from the bedside, settling down on its haunches as it met Louise's eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it with a faint 'click'. A small voice inside was whispering that it was a weighing sort of look she was being given, as if the wolf was deciding. She didn't turn away, matching the familiars gaze with a steady one of her own.

Eventually, the wolf broke the staring contest with a huff, turning away as it rose to its feet, padding silently to the open balcony.

Frowning, Louise opened her mouth to call her familiar back when the wolf turned its head, beckoning her to follow with a sharp flick of its tail. Still frowning, she rose to follow the wolf outside. Out there, Shiranui gestured with her nose, the wolf pointing out past the parapets of balcony.

The sun was already slipping past the horizon, with dusk darkening to night and the moons still not yet risen. Still, it was light enough for her that her sight wasn't impeded in any meaningful way.

"What?" Peering at the horizon, and then down at the courtyard below, she found absolutely nothing of interest. "I don't see any- waagh!"

The sudden pressure behind her knees caught her unawares, buckling her legs and sending her tumbling backwards onto the floor of the balcony. But before she could actually hit the hard stone floor, she landed on something soft. It took a moment, and a startled blink or two, before she realized that she was now sitting astride her wolf like some kind of miniature horse, though her toes still dragged lightly on the floor.

"Fami- Shiranui! What do you think you're doing you stupid dog?"

The wolf craned its head back towards her, giving a bark that her bemused mind translated loosely as "hold on".

"Wha- you-," her words abruptly failed when she felt the wolf bunch its muscles beneath her, as if tensing for a pounce. Realization hit her like a lightning spell. As did the fact that they were _five storeys up!_ "Oh no. You aren't! No no no no no!"

The balcony vanished beneath her.

"Nooooooooooooo!"

* * *

><p>Her eyes were screwed shut, to blot out the sight she knew she would see if they were open. Her fingers were clenched tight, tufts of soft but unyielding fur gripped between them in a stranglehold for dear life. But it didn't, couldn't, hide the reality of what was happening. The wind howled past her ears, hair whipping behind her, just like when she had ridden on Mother's manticore on the few times she had managed to bribe a flight out of it.<p>

Only this wasn't Mother's manticore.

And her 'flight' was strictly downwards.

She was going to die. She was going to fall down to her death. The hard _hard __**hard **_ground was going to come up and she was going to smash into it like a piece of rotten fruit. If only she had magic, she could have cast a levitation spell, avoiding her grisly death. But she didn't, couldn't, not proper magic. The sole magic she ever had was only good at failing and exploding. It wouldn't stop her from falling.

Zero.

Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière was going to die here, because was the Zero, a mage with no magic when magic could save her life. But mostly, she was going to die because her stupid familiar had a death wish and... and...

And it was taking an awfully long time to hit the ground.

Slowly, other things began to intrude on her consciousness. Like the sound of clawed feet scrabbling at stone. Of the way her stomach lurched and leaped instead of just trying to mine it's way past her spine like it had moments ago. She cracked her eyes open.

And immediately wished she hadn't.

She saw the cobblestones of the courtyard rushing up towards her, her death writ large on unyielding stone. In that heart stopping moment, she noticed the familiar beneath her, her hands and thighs clamping onto its flanks with a death grip. She even felt the motions of canine feet in swift motion through their shared contact, particularly the rhythmic jounce inflicted on her hips. It was strange how her impending death made her focus on the most inconsequential of things.

Then all of a sudden, her viewpoint lurched to the side, the ground sharply swerving away to be replaced by the horizon. But she felt her body still falling sharply downwards, threatening to yank her off her mount. Only her knuckle white grip kept her still attached to the wolf, though her shoulder joints popped alarmingly in her ears. Her stomach screamed in protest as it squashed itself against her ribcage, her midday meal threatening to come up her throat as vertigo made the world spin.

And then she was sharply aware of the walls that made up the Academy tower streaking beside... _beneath _her even as every sense screamed that down was the other direction and that they shouldn't be moving this way. She didn't have long to ponder the incongruity, as the tower wall suddenly accelerated away and upwards, her mind just registering that her familiar had _leaped_ off and that they were going down again.

Vaguely, she was aware that someone was screaming, but it cut off with a sharp click as the world spun upside down, only to come to a sharp halt for all of a heartbeat as her familiar landed upright on the parapet of the tower's outer wall. And then they were off like a crossbow bolt, the air blasting in her face as if a wind mage had cast a spell at her. It stung so much, she had to force her eyes to remain open. The parapet blurred past in a twinkle, even faster than the time she had stolen a ride on Mother's manticore. On her right, a dizzying drop streaked far below.

"Don't drop meeeeee!" she tried to scream but her tongue slipped and it came out as a wordless shriek instead.

Somewhere in that, she thought she heard an amused chuff.

And then the parapet was coming to a rapid end, the Tower of Fire looming largely in front of her.

"Stop!" She managed to shriek out this time, self preservation against being splattered all over the Academy overriding her terror as she clutched even tighter to her familiar as the tower rapidly grew to fill her entire field of view.

Now she was sure there was an amused chuff. If anything, her utterly, utterly insane familiar went even _faster!_

"STOOOOOOOPPPP!"

She couldn't close her eyes.

Please don't crash. Please don't crash. Please don't crash.

Her familiar leaped without warning, her stomach falling down to her hips as forward became up. Canine feet caught on polished stone, bodily hauling wolf and master upwards at dizzying speeds. Louise had all of a heartbeat to realize that instead of splattering themselves all over the tower wall, her familiar was literally _running up _the walls. But she really had no time at all to wonder at her wall running wolf. Because the walls weren't just smooth stone, and the tower wasn't _just _a featureless cylinder.

"Augh! Balcony! BALCONY!"

There was another stomach dropping lurch, her familiar pushing off the wall with a powerful leap. The stone outcropping shot past beneath them as they rose into the air. Louise let go a breathe she didn't realize she was holding... until she noticed that they were drifting away from the tower, gravity beginning to pull them back down to the hard ground below.

But she didn't have time to scream before her familiar... did _something._ And suddenly they were streaking across the air, back to the tower. She felt the jolt as her familiar landed on the tower walls, shooting upwards again at a dizzying rate the moment it's feet met stone. Louise saw the open skies above, the rapidly running out tower, their current speed, and came to the easy conclusion.

"Stop." Oh why, oh why did it have to sound like a whimper?

The wind howled in her ears, broken only by the rapid click-clack-click-clack of clawed feet on stone.

"Stop it."

The clack of her familiar's footsteps came to a halt, but the wind still rushed past her ears, her hair whipping behind her back. Her familiar flipped in the air, the sky pinwheeling as she scrunched her eyes shut to keep from throwing up. It only lasted a moment before her stomach stopped lurching, and when she could finally look again, there was no suppressing a tiny mewl of fear. Her wind stung eyes caught sight of the tower roof dwindling below, the vast expanse of the Academy grounds stretching before her. They were so high up. Still going up. But they were slowing.

"Please."

And then they began to plummet.

The last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was the tower rushing up towards them.

* * *

><p>"Uaaah! Up! PULL UP!"<p>

Louise awoke with a shriek, heart thundering in her chest and her her arms flailing wildly about. It was only a few seconds later that she managed to stop her flailing arms, finally taking in the familiar sights of her bedroom and not the... the... she shuddered, trying not to think of how that particular sequence of events would have concluded. It was terrifying how close she had come to being splattered all over the Academy grounds. Just thinking about it summoned the image of her body, twisted and shattered on the cobblestones of the Academy grounds, surrounded by a growing crimson pool. But, it couldn't have been real, right? All that leaping, running and worst of all, the falling. That particular thought prominently featured in her mind as her wits began to gather. She was in her room and unhurt, it was dark outside, and, and... why was she on the floor?

But then the clues started to put themselves together. Her hair and clothes were a disheveled mess, and the presence of the bed beside her suggested an answer was so obvious, she didn't need to think on it.

So that had to mean it was a dream. She'd probably been too tired to change into her sleeping clothes, dozed off, slept poorly and rolled out of bed.

Strange... she'd never done that before. Not since she was six.

A low whine caught her attention, and she turned sharply towards the source of the sound. Standing by the open balcony door, her familiar was watching her, Shiranui's white coat practically glowing with in the light of the moons, crimson markings adorning her flanks.

Louise blinked, quickly rubbing at her eyes. But then it was gone, the wolf's pelt the colour of fresh snow save for the familiar marking on her head. Louise shook her head with a huff. First bad dreams, and now she was seeings things.

The wolf cocked its head to the side, whining inquisitively.

"Haaah, it's nothing, just a weird dream," she laughed softly to herself, though it was devoid of much humour, "it's not like wolves can run up walls after all... what?"

Shiranui had lowered her head at the pronouncement, covering her muzzle with single paw. Even if there weren't any spoken words, her familiar practically radiated irritation. A horrible suspicion began to form in her mind. No.

"Jumping off the balcony, running up the Academy tower... that was just a dream... right?"

It couldn't be.

In response, the wolf turned towards the balcony doors, padding through the opening on silent feet.

No way.

"Fa- Shiranui!"

The wolf paused, turning its head towards her, tail flicking in a questioning way.

"If..." she stuttered, not quite wanting to believe. Not wanting to _remember._ But she was a Valliere, and more importantly, the daughter of her Lady Mother, Karin the Heavy Wind. Backing away in fear was a weakness. She took a deep breath, fixing her most firm expression, and pushed on. She was _not_ dead. So it couldn't have ended the way she thought it would.

"If that really happened," Almost by reflex, her hands went to her body, patting her frame for injuries. She breathed a sigh of relief to find no broken bones nor torn muscles. Only, her palms were bruised, half moon indentations from her fingernails from gripping something too hard. Somehow, the discovery of her mostly unharmed state disturbed her more than the lack of real injury. "Then... we didn't crash?"

Shiranui cocked her head, ears flicking in a way that suggested the question was beneath answering. After a moments thought, Louise conceded that maybe it was.

"Right," she said sceptically, still not quite believing it, "then you brought me here?"

There was an affirmative bark at that. Which meant... which meant, she shuddered. And she couldn't even fault her familiar for what had transpired. She had been the one who asked. "Next time," oh Founder, what if there _was _a next time? She didn't think she could survive that. "Wait for my permission, alright?"

Which would be never if she had her way.

The huff she got in reply was far less reassuring than she would have liked.

* * *

><p>Bureaucracy was, to Colbert's mind, the greatest enemy of mankind. A flight of elder dragons could be met on the field, the great wyrms brought down with cannon or mighty magic, humanity emerging the victor at better than even odds. But not paperwork, oh no. You could fight it with quill and ink, one parchment at a time, but you could never defeat it. Like the legendary Great Hydras of old, no more did you cut down one form or another than another pair spring in its place. You could delegate others to do it, but it always found a way of compounding interest like the meanest moneylender and coming for you when you least expected it. It afflicted nobles and commoners alike.<p>

Paradoxically, the more organized and structured an organization grew to combat this dreaded threat, the more paperwork it generated. Requisition forms, signed in triplicate, records of student performance for the school, records of the same bound for the royal capital where someone would look it over for promising recruits and more. It was like a forever hungry beast, sucking away time and energy that could be better spent, like on wonderful research in his sometimes drafty laboratory in the Tower of Fire. He'd been so close to completing that heat to motion device. It would be little more than a curiosity when complete, true, but when taken further; he saw visions of ships with burning hearts beneath their decks, no longer moving at the whim of the wind or men with oars. The implications could benefit all of humanity, noble and commoner alike, greatly.

And here he was, filling up dreary old forms.

There were some times that Colbert was tempted to sink back to days of the Flame Snake, and just set the entire stack of parchment in front of him on fire.

But no, that would be terribly irresponsible of him, and all that would result in was _more_ paperwork. Besides, for once there was actually something interesting about the paperwork he was doing. Well, most of it was boring really, transcribing the runic names of this year's familiars into the Academy records as well as their meanings tended to lose its appeal after the first few rolls. It had gotten to the point were translating runic names like "Deep Seeker", Wind Dancer" and the like was almost entirely a rote practice. But this year held something different.

Miss Valliere's familiar specifically. Being literally born, if it could be called that, from stone had cued him in to the fact that it was no ordinary snow wolf. Oh, some of the students had speculated that the young Valliere had bribed a mage student into casting a particularly powerful light spell to hide a swap, but he'd have caught that rather quickly. It was certainly a curiosity. Summoning a never encountered before type of wolf, possibly a magical subspecies like the extinct rhyme dragons, would have been a rare event worthy of praise. If one were to look at it now of course. He wasn't about to dismiss the issue of it's unusual origin. A particularly powerful _and _skilled earth mage; people often thought power and skill in magic were the same but he knew better of course, could certainly craft an Alvyss with sufficient animation to be very lifelike. Practically indistinguishable from any other living creature.

But viewed at the academic level, that was independent thesis work pursued by researchers, not something taught to the average student. The intricacies that went behind the spell were certainly not something a second year should know well enough to even scratch the fundamentals. And to be honest, exemplary academic student though the Valliere daughter was, he could say with confidence that she was most definitely not some kind of child prodigy. Not to mention the amount of preparation work and materials that even a crude construct required. The Alvyss idea just wasn't plausible.

The alternative interpretation, that the familiar was some kind of earth spirit, was just as implausible if one thought about it. Oh, it's original stone form was a convincing argument in favour of that interpretation, but he had his doubts. Of the sum total of Tristain's recorded dealings with the elemental spirits beyond those that guided the summoning ritual, the Montmorency family were the only one who actually had regular contact with one. The spirits could take corporeal form, true, but always of their elements; water, fire or the ghosting cloud of air, never flesh and blood.

As for one submitting to the ritual... he chuckled half-heartedly at that. Spirits were temperamental things, elemental forces of nature powerful enough not to be trifled with in the slightest way. In retrospect, encouraging Louise to try and continue the ritual without additional safeguards might not have been the best of ideas. But it had worked, and the student had gained a curious specimen of wolf as her familiar. Assuming of course, it was just a wolf. He had his doubts there, even if he had no clue what it actually was.

Well, if nothing else, he could always try a spell of magic detection the next time he saw it. That would help narrow the field of possibilities.

But even putting what it was aside, there was also the question of the runes.

Runes were commonly black, or shone with emerald light at the caster's command. Certainly not bright crimson. There had to be a meaning to that, even if it escaped him. Runes weren't coloured on a whim. And certainly not so... unusually configured either. He wasn't even sure if they were runes. Far too many curves to be properly considered the Founder's script. More vexing, some of the runes were so alien that attempting to decipher produced varied but equally valid meanings.

Really, the word "Light" should not in any way be confused with "Mother", much less "God". At one point, he had even thought it could have translated to "Gandalfr", which had brought a hearty laugh out of him as his mind skittered away from that possibility. He was obviously quite frustrated if he was starting to clutch at straws like that. The runes he had written down certainly didn't match the one in the books.

And yet the way it was written made it impossible to decide which was true. Most vexing. Though, if he squinted just right, one of the runes translated to "Sun". He took an inadvertent look at the clock on his desk, ticking away sedately at an hour that should still see ebbing sunlight in the horizon, rather than the moonlit night shining through the window. Maybe... he snorted. No, that was just patently ridiculous. The matter of the unusual daylight hours they were having was for the astronomers to figure out, not him. The far more likely explanation was that he'd gotten the translation wrong somewhere.

He'd have to see about asking Osmond in the morning for permission to access some of the protected archives where the more archaic runic records were kept.

Maybe there was a clue there.

* * *

><p>Shiranui padded though the courtyard gardens of the academy, bathed in the light of Tsukuyomi's doppelganger and its sibling. Though the light of the twins were cold, the flowers and trees surrounding her carried the warmth of life that that belied the cool of night. It was not like the places of nature that the palaces of Nippon bore; where there would be simple harmony, here were vibrant colour and scents, a rich gathering that touched upon her senses in a manner that carried it's own sense of calm and peace.<p>

And yet she did not ponder on the contrast for long, her thoughts drifting in reflection of the day's happenings.

It had been so long since she had known the freely given affections and faith of other beings, felt their strength suffuse hers. The wellspring from a single dragon had grown to include others, buoying her above the unending stillness she had once known. There was still far to travel upon her journey, but with the day's fortune, she believed it had truly begun.

And what of the one who bonded her, she pondered? What fates awaited the one to whom now dwelt in the domain of dreams? Such a curious child that one, to ask a question in hopes so earnest that she had no trouble discerning them, yet to shy from a partial answer and all that it belied.

She chuffed, flicking her tail in bemusement... and perhaps a tiny amount of guilt.

The child had believed in Shiranui, pondered the meanings of what she had seen that day. And though her frustrations coloured her words, she had still sought to learn more, to know who this white wolf she saw truly was. She had watched the child, heard her words and hidden hopes, and pondered an answer. In those moments, she had thought to give the true answer of her being, and the world beyond the mortal one. For theirs was a bond to walk the same path in life. Only in truth and openness could such bonds flourish.

But the young one was not ready for such an answer, _they _were not ready. Her time here had not been long, yet she had already learned much with only her ears and eyes. Like the onmyoji families of Nippon, there were undercurrents to this place of learning, a lingering cloud of discontent between blood lines that the young ones had only begun to embrace. And though they were young, the child still struggled to find her center, her spirit conflicted over a weakness she that Shiranui had yet to discern. A true answer now, as she first considered, would only invite those intending harm to the child. And she was not yet strong enough to protect her, should such come to pass.

And so a true answer, a whole answer, was one she could not give yet.

But what value was their bond if she were to conceal all truths? Such was the way of the fox tricksters. She could not do that. In the end, she would give a portion of an answer, one that would sate the child's curiosity and bring delight. For to run, to fly free and partake in the surety of her own being in ways no mortal creature could, surely the child would find wonder in soaring as she did?

But the child had not.

Shiranui lowered her head in guilt. It had been so long, the joy too great, that she had not paid heed to the cries of the child as much as she should have.

And yet, she could not truly regret her choice. There had been fear within the child's eyes, she could not deny. But there had also been something else, the glimmer of a will that would not bend in adversity.

The child was not ready, nor was she. But together, in her choice, they had both taken a step forward.

And in time, perhaps they would complete the journey as one.

In time... she huffed. Such thoughts were far too soon; the child was young still, and it would be many seasons before she was wise enough to warrant them. For now, she would wait, allowing matters to pass as was custom. Her decision made, she padded onwards, leaving behind the garden and it's richly varied scents behind. The harmony she had sought in this place did not come to her as easily as she had first thought.

Perhaps she would find it elsewhere.

* * *

><p>The first glimmer of light that were her domain were just beginning to appear, and still she wandered, taking her leisure as she explored the rest of the grounds in her search. She had not seen much the previous night, for much of her time had been spent in discourse with the servant and the dragon. But this night's curiosity had been most illuminating, though not possessing the simple harmony she had sought. It was apparent to her from the beginning that this was a place of learning for spirit users, though she had not known that they taught all of the Five Moments. In Nippon, the onmyouji who were the masters of such places would only pass on the arts that they themselves practiced. A practioner of <em>chi <em>would not be found where mastery of _ka_ was taught, save only as a visitor.

Not so here. Five towers of stone surrounded the center tower where the young ones lived, each one possessing the distinct traces of the Five Movements. To her senses, each one radiated an aura almost like a living thing. The rippling calm of water that showed the presence of _sui_, the blustery energy of wind and more. For each tower, there was one of the elements. All but one. The fifth and last tower, where there should have been the deep pool that was _ku_, was silent and still, devoid of the familiarity that should be there. It was a place of study as well, but of the stars and constellations with it's many looking glasses. Of the spirit arts, she could find no trace of it's presence.

It puzzled her.

Did they not teach their young ones the path of heaven? And what of the child she was to be guardian to? Strong in the _ku_ though the young one would be, it would be a strength untapped if there were none to teach her in the ways of it's use. She flicked an ear in irritation. She had been content to wait as the child grew in strength and wisdom, but if there were none to teach this child of her gifts, the passing of time would only see stagnation.

Would she bring ripples to these still waters then? She was guardian of the child, the answer to a heartfelt plea she gave freely. A guide through the life journey they shared when needed. She was the light and warmth of life, a protector of all against the encroaching darkness of Yami and all its kind. But to be a teacher... such was often the domain of Omoikane, to ponder upon the troubles of others and impart wise counsel when matters such as these arose.

Susano...

No, such thoughts was untrue. She had aided the foolish young swordsman in his time of need, and though she had not passed on arts of the sword or mystic ways, she had bolstered his faltering confidence in the face of the coming darkness. He had proven his worth since then, possessed with courage and honour to stand against Orochi.

Would it be the same with this child then? To give her the guidance and bolster her spirit to find her strength? It was something to ponder. She would not be opposed to such a circumstance, she supposed. She was not a true teacher of the spirit arts; the Five Movements were as she wished, echoing the will of the origin. But mortals were not meant to touch upon the spirit arts as she did. They could not grasp the nature of the world beyond the veil of mortal eyes without a guide to show them the way. But if none of the masters here knew of the _ku_, then perhaps what knowledge she possessed would suffice in their stead...

She huffed.

Before such matters could pass, first she would need to regain her own strength. And that at least, she knew how to do well.

* * *

><p>Siesta was a maidservant, and as such, had many duties. Most of them were not much different from the household chores she did while growing up in Tarbes. Honest, simple work that she was quite content, if not happy, to do. Some of the others, like being at mercy of the whims of any noble brat who took notice, was something she feared, but would have to bow her head to. She had heard many sordid tales of noble debauchery, and had no wish to become another story like that. What could a commoner do to deny a noble?<p>

That was a duty she, spirits willing, would never have to worry about.

But the one she actually _did _enjoy, was the tending of the gardens in the courtyard of water. Though she was no gardener; her duties mostly consisting of ensuring the plants were watered and the leaves swept, she did enjoy being surrounded by all manner of beautiful and exotic plants, even if she did have to get up before sunrise to do it. Normally that is. Nobody was quite able to explain why the sun was rising earlier by nearly a full two hours than it should, according to the Academy clocks. That had been a puzzle to her. Earlier mornings in the spring were not unusual certainly, but it was a gradual change. It didn't just happen overnight. In the end, she had simply put it out of her mind. She was just a commoner, if she could not affect it, then she would accept it.

She yawned.

Her body did wish she had more time to sleep though.

But sleepy or not, she easily caught sight of the white shape ghosting quietly into the gardens to join her.

"Hello, Shiranui," she greeted the wolf familiar, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Did you sleep well?"

Coal black eyes glanced back at her in a way that seemed to say 'well enough'. Which was a bit odd now that she thought about it, didn't wolves have yellow eyes? She cocked her head at the familiar, the motion mimicked by the wolf in an inquisitive gesture, made only more pronounced by the faint whine it made.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm quite used to it." Siesta waved away the concern, though another yawn made them dismissal ring rather hollowly. She masked her mouth with a her hand, colouring slightly in the cheeks as she did so. "I can't be shirking my duties after all," She elaborated, lifting her watering can for further explanation, before adding, "Besides, I like it here."

For her part, the wolf flicked an ear and dropped to her haunches with an inquisitive whine.

The maid nodded. "Mmm, I like the gardens, especially in the early morning when no one else is around." She giggled, "don't tell anyone, but it feels like it's just me with all the flowers and trees in the world then. I never got to see so many different kinds back in my village, you see. Oh we had wildflowers of course, and the nearby forest, but not so many kinds."

Siesta didn't know why, but there was just something about the wolf that put her at ease. As she continued to water the plants and tell the stories of her village, she started to realize that Shiranui had a sort of calm acceptance that made her think of her own mother, the familiar patiently sitting there and listening, occasionally flicking a tail or ear in response to her story.

She rather liked that.

"But my favourite is the Serrulata tree," she confided, smiling lightly as the wolf followed obediently behind her. It was almost like she had her own pet... or familiar... kyah. "They're quite a rare sight in Tristain. I hear they have to be imported since they normally don't grow very well here. Grandfather used to say it was something about the weather that wasn't good for them, but the Academy has managed to raise one."

Here her smile turned slightly wistful as she gestured towards a tree that stood some distance away. "Last year when it flowered, it was so pretty." And it was very much so, the faintly pink blossoms blanketing the tree's branches like stubborn snow as warm spring chased away winter. But that was last year. Now it was mid spring, and the tree was still barren of flowers. She sighed. "I heard one of the gardeners say that it's too old to bloom anymore."

That they were considering removing the tree and replacing it with one of the evergreens was something she didn't add. She had only been here long enough to see it flower once, and now it was going to be uprooted, probably turned into firewood or some other bland fate. Siesta met the wolf's unchanging gaze, the wistful smile still on her face. As if sensing her mood, the wolf padded up to the maid, nosing her free hand in a comforting gesture.

"I think you would have liked it."

* * *

><p>It was... difficult for her to contain the well of excitement that flowed through her. But she placed her own feelings aside until she watched Siesta depart, barking a soft farewell as the women left to tend to her other duties, leaving the wolf behind in the garden.<p>

A Serrulata, that had been the name the maidservant had given to the tree. It was an unfamiliar name to her, a title that should have been rightfully given to an unfamiliar tree. But to the white wolf, the sight before her was not an unknown one. Even whithered by time, its branches barren and bowed with age, there was no mistaking the scents and sights that were achingly familiar to her.

Sakura. A symbol of the lands of Nippon, and closer to her heart, of the Kamiki village where once she was called forth to banish the darkness. It was not the grand Konohana tree that stood as guardian over the village, for no guardian spirit resided within its boughs, yet it was kin all the same.

A child of Nippon. And now a tree of the same, brought to these lands by mortal means as the child had intimated. Did that mean then, that these lands were not so distant from Nippon, that mortal means could cross them? A hidden seed of her illustrious Father's work where her eye could not pierce when she watched from the heavens? But no, she could not countenance such. What did mortal eyes perceive that she could not? And more, her heaven borne sibling was not here, Tsukuyomi's doppelganger and its brother had taken his place.

No. The tale that had brought the kin of Konohana to these lands were no doubt the same that had brought Siesta's forefathers, that she was certain.

But the servant had grasped a partial truth with her words. Kin though it may be to the home of the tree spirit, the sakura tree before her was whithered, clinging only to an already ebbing life. She padded closer, placing a paw to its weathered surface.

_Tired. Rest._

Almost at once emotions that were not her own flickered across her mind, sensations of weariness and strain clouding her own.

She accepted it all, taking them within herself as she continued her silent commune.

_Alone._

A soft whine escaped her lips as she felt the tree's heart, touching upon the solitude that welled within the bark. Despite the passage of years it had seen, no spirit resided within its aged boughs. Instead, it was the experiences of the tree itself, wavering life passing between the boundaries of the seasons. Flashes of memory came to her, of winter chill and springtime warmth, flickers of disjointed images from different lands that were it's recollection of the journey that brought it here.

_Light. Wind._

It stood upon the boundaries, she realized, of simple existence and true awareness. With the passing of many more seasons, it would transcend the boundaries to nurture it's own spirit.

_Sleep._

But such would not come to pass. On it's own, even with the skilled hands of mortals to tend its needs, she could sense the fading life within, withered and without strength. Her tail swished, trailing the echoes of her will as it gathered before her.

The maidservant had wished to see it bloom once more, and as the sensations of the tree skimmed across her mind, so did she. These lands were not her own, the people unknown to her. But the maidservant, the tree before her, they were a part of her as they were a part of the lands of Nippon. To protect, to nurture them was a wish that had been her own from the moment of her birth. Yet the tree would no longer bloom. It's life was ebbing, beyond the help of mortal humans. But she was not human.

_Warm. Sun._

She was Shiranui, pale guardian wolf who had stood against the tide of darkness that threatened all, and she was not. She was Shiranui, a drifting shadow brought away from the veil of the dark river to be shikigami to a child of _ku_, and she was not. They were names and purposes that were hers, as true as the reflection upon a mirror. And yet they were but aspects, shades of colour upon her being that were not the whole.

_Strength. Life._

The world before bent as her will touched upon the boundaries between existences, fuelled by the gratitude that had been placed upon her. The whispers of budding life, too faint for any ear but hers, filled the air as decaying age faded away beneath new vigour, the past becoming the present. Beyond the titles mortals had gifted upon her, beyond the aspects that humans had seen and told tales of, lay the capstone that was her being. A name granted to her by her honored parents and shared with a child of the great serpents. She was Amaterasu.

_Affection._

And she was not mortal.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And so the next chapter of Summoning the Sun is done. Now to answer some questions on praise, I had to do a little creative interpretation as to how the system works. It's not so much faith in the worshipping sense, since Ammy was never actively worshipped as a goddess during her tenure of the game. Rather, it's positive feelings towards her that empower her. The more grateful, happy, etc someone is with Ammy, the more power she accumulates. That isn't to say that faith and belief in her don't contribute, but at the bare bones, praise works quite well. And yes, Ammy's pocket space is quite well stocked. As to Issun, well, that'll be something to look into in the future chapters neh?_


	4. Chapter 04

_Disclaimer: I don't own the intellectual properties for either crosses, etc, etc. Don't sue, because that makes Ammy an unhappy kami._

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 04**

"Do not be overly enamored of the magical acts of the spirits or the spirits themselves. They are capricious beings not to be trifled with, their motivations inscrutable to mortal comprehension. To entreat with one is often to invite disaster." - Bishop Lestrande, Treatises on Magic, Page 69, chapter XI

* * *

><p>Where once was the stillness of fading strength, vigour now suffused its being.<p>

Where its peak was barren and grey, the colour of palest sunrise now crowned its arms.

Where life had been ebbing into the twilight, she had restored it anew.

The first of its blossoms parted in the morning light, rustling in the wind with vibrant life.

She took her ease as the morning light grew brighter, watching as the first echoes of her choice began to reverberate throughout the garden. Its branches creaked in motion, swaying in the wind as rustling leaves and flowers spoke a tongue older than mortal men.

It was a language without meaning, of life singing its purest joy.

Time passed as she heard its song, her domain steadily rising across the skies before she stood to leave, pausing only long enough to touch her forehead to its surface.

The tree of her homeland did not house a spirit, its weathered trunk not yet old enough to give birth to the being who would care and live within its roots, garbing itself with the bounty of its crown. But in time, a spirit would shelter within, she knew. A time that would approach before long, her parting touch a blessing of growth. She did not know if she would be present at the time of the spirit's birth, for the path to the future was still clouded to her.

But in the end it would not matter, she decided. Hers was a gift given freely, for all beings who lived and those who had yet to come. A gift that would forever be there until the end of her time.

A memory of the sun.

* * *

><p>Siesta felt her knees go weak at the sight, her fingers threatening to drop the rake in surprise. She lifted one hand to rub at her eyes, wanting to believe, but unable to do so. It wasn't possible. But the sweetly familiar scent wafted by her nose, weakening her already faltering denial. Flower petals drifted in the wind, one errant petal touching upon her cheek before it blew away.<p>

A faint breeze gusted through the courtyard, creating a light shower of petals amidst the rustling of the tree's branches

She stared and stared. The gardeners had told her it was no longer able to bloom. Its branches that very morning had been barren, devoid of a single leaf or flower. She had spoken with Shiranui as she had watered the gardens, telling the white wolf how she had missed the sight of the tree blooming, its cherry pink flowers like floral snow. It had been a wistful thing, but she was old enough to know that wishes didn't come true like that.

But now...

The serrulata tree was blooming again.

On the day she had told Shiranui of her hope.

Was it even possible? Were Grandfather's tales true?

"_She wasn't like anything we ever expected. Flowers, grass, trees, life blossomed in her footsteps."_

She couldn't believe it, those stories were just tales for the children. Weren't they?

If it were true... if all his tales were... ohhh, she didn't know what she would do in the end. There were just so many things he had told her that were too fantastical to believe. But she did know one thing.

If Shiranui had been the one to bring the serrulata tree back, then it didn't really matter if everything Grandfather had said was true or not. She was going to be extra nice to the wolf.

And she knew just how to do that.

* * *

><p>It began with a rumour in the servant quarters. A tale of a withered tree in the gardens, soon to be cut down for kindling, now in full bloom with a vitality it had never possessed before. That wasn't anything special in itself, for the idle gossip of the help was a common trait to be found anywhere, from the dirtiest tavern to the bright halls of the Tristanian Academy of Magic. That it was a gossip of strange and unexplained happenings... well, this was the Academy of <em>Magic<em> after all. The strange was commonplace; in fact, it was expected.

It was probably the act of one of the mage teachers, or a student practicing water magic that had brought it about. No one had actually seen how it had happened of course, but surely someone must have been responsible? Withered trees just didn't bloom like that without magic.

Whoever it was, the gardeners, and some of the students it was said, were quite happy with the end results.

And like most rumours, it would have circulated amongst the servants for a few days, perhaps catch the ear of a low noble student who would deign to listen in on the commoners, and faded from memory as a mystery person who had done a good deed.

Only... that wasn't the end of it.

* * *

><p>The storm had come quickly, without much warning as was typical of spring showers. What was not typical was the ferocity which the storm had struck the Academy, with strong blustery winds that sent more than one hat and laundry hanging flying off into the heavens for parts unknown. Of course, that was probably just the least of the damage that had occurred, thought Frederick as he hefted the tools of his trade and looked to the now clear skies.<p>

Frederick was a gardener kept in service to the Tristan Academy, tending with deft hands to the flowers and trees of the courtyards over the years. He wasn't the only one of course, one man could only do so much within the Academy's expansive grounds, but the Vestrii court and it's prized Blue Sprite flowers were his job. Assuming there were many of them left, he thought sourly.

The storm had hit deep in the middle of the night, when even the help was asleep so there was no chance of lessening the damage. And just by looking at the detritus that littered the grounds; leaves practically carpeting the grass marked with the occasional branch snapped off by the winds, he wasn't looking forward to seeing the damage done to his precious flower beds. Oh, he'd heard the story about the Serrulata tree and it's miraculous recovery the day before, but he wasn't going to count on some mysterious benefactor to... to...

He dropped the bucket to the ground, not heeding the clatter of his tools spilling out.

There, like an island in the middle of a storm of debris were his flower beds. Flower petals and broken stalks were scattered around the soft soil, evidence of the storm's ferocity the night before. But the beds, the flowers themselves were untouched, standing tall and unbroken.

Between his shock and the morning mists, he never saw the pale white form ghosting away.

* * *

><p>It should have been a single unexplained event, fireside gossip for a week before some other, new thing came along. But then another tale was added to the first. Flowers that had been healed of storm damage to a condition that was better than it was the night before. Speculation of the person's identity was raised. A mage. It had to be. Someone with water magic, a few voices suggested, while others contended that it was the work of a mage-alchemist, experimenting with some kind of concoction that encouraged plant life to grow.<p>

A few servants however, contested the idea that it was any of the mages who were responsible. They were all nobles, they said. Why would a noble concern themselves with the problems that a servant might face in their daily tasks after all? One could easily be an experiment or a prank, but two? That was something more deliberate than a whim, so it could not be a noble. Nobles, went the argument, were all the same, conceited and secure in their superiority. Not one of them would bother with something like that when they had servants to do it for them. It had to be something else, a nature dwelling creature, perhaps even a spirit from the nearby forest, for reasons of its own.

Very few put much credence in that particular idea, but no one argued against the point that whoever did the deed, he or she must have certainly have had a love of nature.

Why else would this mystery person go to all the effort?

* * *

><p>Louise took a deep breath and set her expression firmly, eyeing the lump of clay on the pedestal before her as the teacher looked on encouragingly.<p>

She was supposed to transmute it into any material of her choosing. It was a simple assignment. Only a square class mage would be able to transmute gold, but the simpler base elements were less demanding. Even a dot class would have been able to turn clay into sand or something similar. It would only take a little willpower, just a gesture. Any mage could do it.

But the whispers behind her disagreed, the brazen Germanian even arguing against her participation.

Any mage could do it. Just not her.

Especially not her.

Because she was- no.

No.

She refused to give in to her peers. She was of Valliere blood, and would sooner die than to surrender to anyone. She had successfully summoned a familiar, a beautiful, clearly unique wolf who could defy the limitations of her more mundane kind. She had witnessed first hand from astride its back just how fast it was, how sheer walls were no obstacle to it, even how it seemed to be able to change direction in the middle of a jump. She wasn't Cattleya with her wide knowledge of animals, but there was no way nature could have produced something like a spider wolf, right? That had to mean it was magical, didn't it? She could forgive a little stubbornness and odd behaviour for that.

And if she could summon such a magical being, binding it as her own, then how could she be a failure? A familiar reflected a mage. How could she be talentless if she had a magical familiar? Surely it had been a sign from the spirits that she was ready to become a proper mage.

She raised the wand in her hand, channeling the willpower she would need into the implement as she began muttering the incantation. The scrape of wood against stone hinted at her naysayers backing away. If anything, their hesitation only fuelled her determination. The tip of her wand practically glowed as she began pouring all the willpower she could muster.

She could do this.

She _would_ do this.

The detonation that rocked the tower of Earth was only slightly less thunderous than the one in the summoning ground two days prior.

When Louise came to, the first thing she was conscious of was the floor at her back and the cold nose of her familiar pressed to her soot-stained face.

"How did you get here?" She murmured in confusion, weakly pushing the wolf away from her. She was sure she had told Shiranui to wait in the courtyard. In response, there was a flick of a tail in the direction of the window. The answer only brought a brief frown to her face, as they were on the fifth floor, until she remembered the day before. "Oh..." She suddenly felt very tired, closing her eyes as she rested on the floor.

Wait.

Eyes snapped open again as she jerked upright. Beneath the layer of soot, she felt her face go pale. The classroom was a wreck, Miss Chevreuse was unconcious and as for the target of her spell... the only sign it had ever existed was the cracked stump that had been the pedestal it sat on.

"You," Kirche coughed irritably from behind her desk, a lighter patina of soot coating her face, "you just had to blow up another classroom, didn't you, Zero?"

A piece of the pedestal broke apart and struck the floor, shattering into a thousand fragments like her hopes of success.

* * *

><p>There had been questions. A sharp-eyed student had caught sight of the wolf as it leaped through the window, which had lead to some brief speculation as to how it had arrived on the fifth floor as they filed out of the ruined classroom. It wasn't like it had <em>climbed<em> all the way up after all, that was just silly. She hadn't bothered to correct their mistakes and answer their questions about her wolf.

There certainly had been none about her.

Nobody needed questions about the Zero. Zero magic. Zero success. Only good for blowing things up.

Her punishment had been to clean up the damage she had caused to the classroom. Without using magic, the somewhat dazed teacher had added very strongly. She was supposed to learn the value of the things she destroyed the hard way, not magic it away with a wave of her wand.

As if.

She tuned out the strained mockery of her peers, focusing, or at least attempting to, on clearing away the worst of the damage. It shouldn't have happened like this, the thought ran through her mind as she swept up shattered glass from the windows. She had successfully summoned a familiar, which meant she was a mage. Her life was supposed to have turned around for the better, she would have shown up all the others and gained Mother's respect at long last, Founder curse it all. So why? Why did all her other spells always fail? Why only that one time and no other? She didn't want to believe that her one success to date could have been only just a... a... a _fluke_!

"It's not fair."

Her familiar cocked its head beside her, but Louise was too caught up in her ruminations to pay it any heed. "I've studied magical theory more than any of them," she muttered to herself, "I know each spell of my year back and forth, so why can't I make my magic work? Why does Kirche get to flaunt her magic like that when all she does is chase boys?"

The last words came out as a bitter growl. Magic, height, bre- stature, why did the likes of that Germanian get everything handed to her on a silver platter while the only thing her hard work ever produced was an explosion up in her face?

"It's just not fair."

This time there was an inquisitive whine, and the sensation of her familiars nose on her hand was enough to gain her attention. She smiled bitterly at that, telling the wolf just what she thought of her lot in life. Even her familiar was more magical than her. But at least that was some consolation too. She had a familiar at least, one that was magical and special in it's own way and not something completely useless, like a commoner.

That would have been the final insult.

It felt strange to vent at her familiar, no, it _was_ strange. But through it all, the wolf's attention never wavered, pausing only to give her hand a sympathetic lick and an encouraging bark once she had wound down, which made her feel a bit better. Shiranui was right, at least she had her familiar.

Though... it was odd really, the thought occurred to her as she left the classroom, how she seemed to understand those small gestures from her wolf as something greater. It wasn't as if they had been together long enough to understand each other at a deeper level like big sister Cattleya with her animals. She entertained the thought for a few moments before discarding it as silly. Shiranui was her familiar, so of course she would understand when the expressed herself, didn't it?

"You understand me too, Shiranui," she turned back, asking the wolf padding out of the classroom behind her, "don't you?"

There was a flick of a tail as the wolf met her gaze, and some odd whispering sound. But before she could think on it, her familiar huffed in amusement, moving up to touch her hand with its nose again as if to say "Of course I do."

Which, in spite the failures she had suffered that day, just felt right.

* * *

><p>It could be a prank, the servants gossiped. Maybe one of the students had failed some childish game or another, and was forced to do common work as part of their punishment. It could be something else, others argued, whispers among the common servants ranged far and wide as to who was behind these seemingly random acts of kindness, and why. First it had been a single tree, and then flowers blooming out of season. It was relatively small things, given the scale of the Academy gardens, but very noticeable by the people who tended them. In ones or twos, sometimes in a whole row of decorative plants. Some took it to mean that perhaps an elemental spirit of nature had taken interest.<p>

But then the carpenters and maids had added in their own discoveries, muddling those explanations.

A classroom had been all but destroyed during a lecture, they'd been told, the result of a spell gone wild by one of the more trouble-prone noble brats. That in itself wasn't much news, for even among the commoners, the explosive tendencies of the Valliere girl were all but impossible to miss. The student would be tasked with doing something magical, the gossip went, and it would explode. Accident or malice, it meant more work for the maids to clean up at the end of the day, and replacements for the carpenters to fashion.

Only, there wasn't anything to clean up _or_ replace.

The maids who had turned up to haul away the broken furniture had come to find the classroom quite unexploded.

Yes, the student responsible had been charged with cleaning up without using her magic. The teacher who sent for them had confirmed that. That didn't explain what had happened to the broken desks and chairs they were supposed to be taking away. Assuming they even existed in the first place. But everyone had heard the explosion, and it had come from the right direction.

The student had to have used magic then to repair the damage when the teacher's back was turned, right? Or roped in another fellow student who had better control of their magic to do the job. It was a sensible conclusion, one which they kept to themselves rather than report it to the teaching staff. Student or not, they were nobles, and the last thing any of the servants wanted to do was draw attention to themselves by calling the deception out.

Except it happened again.

A pair of worn shoes with split soles would be found the morning after as if newly made. Fraying or torn apron hems mended as if they had never been worn down. Each night following that fateful day in the gardens, something or another would be found repaired or made anew. It didn't happen to everyone. Nor did it happen all at the same time. Small things that happened without rhyme nor reason, yet always of benefit to someone or another among the servants. Yet no one had any idea as to who could be responsible.

It couldn't be a noble. Once on a lark, perhaps. Twice was pushing it if it were some kind of penalty game. But so many times? And for the benefit of the common serving staff? Even if it was magic that made it possible, it just couldn't be a noble. It went against all common sense. It had to be something else.

The rumours flew as notes were compared, ideas exchanged and guesses made.

Maybe it was one of them, a disgraced noble hiding among the servants and tired of the charade. But the idea was ridiculous. Disgraced nobility had less laborious choices to them, and besides, didn't they all know each other? The few who raised the idea were quick to drop it soon after.

Their jobs were in danger, a more pessimistic faction argued. This new occurrence had to be an experiment by the mage-teachers, perhaps the headmaster himself. A magical enchantment upon the castle that repaired everything would leave the majority of them without purpose and employment. It was still clearly new, testing itself on small things before the mages perfected it and did away with living servants altogether.

But more than a few voices began to support the idea of a friendly spirit. That maybe there was something out there with a power of its own that watched over them in ways the nobles never would. After all, such an impressive magic the pessimists talked about would only be matched by equally impressive bragging from whoever was responsible, and they would have caught wind of it by now. And wasn't the mysterious benefactor also repairing, not just academy property, but their personal affects? They should be grateful to have someone with that kind of power looking out for them.

One servant in particular, though she had kept much of her suspicions quiet, fretted at her lack of opportunity to express it.

It had been two days since she had found the Serrulata tree blossoming with life, and she had yet to talk to the one being she suspected was responsible for the little wonders the serving staff were experiencing. She didn't know if it was because of her duties, or if she was being avoided, but she hadn't even had a chance to catch a glimpse.

She didn't feel any resentment at that thought. All these going-ons, they had to be from the same being, didn't they? She could understand if there hadn't been the time. But she still wanted to meet her.

So she settled for the next best thing, sneaking a few pastries from the kitchen to the Serrulata tree in the middle of the night. It was a silly gesture, leaving food unattended in the middle of the gardens, there was no surety that it would even be found or accepted and she'd get into trouble for littering in the gardens if anyone found out.

But the next day, the pastries were gone.

And in their place was a single wildflower in full bloom.

* * *

><p>It was tacitly acknowledged that there were two sorts of rumour mills that operated on the Academy's grounds. One was managed by the students and teachers, a high minded game of political intrigue and alliances hidden behind veiled words, with well placed taunts and thrusts to weaken a rival's standing amongst their peers as was befitting their noble station. The other was the base gossip that the common servants partook in, of low brow scandals and meandering discussions over utterly dull and uncivilized topics that the nobles were better off ignoring lest they sully their hands.<p>

Kirche knew the distinction for what it was, which was a load of rubbish. Servants had eyes and ears too, they could carry word of critical incidents as easily as any noble. Who knew what delicious gossip might come her way if she kept an ear open?

Like today.

"Hey Blue, have you heard the latest?"

From her seat across the table, turning a page of her book, the laconic Tabitha raised her eyebrow minutely.

"The one about the mystery mage of course." She explained excitedly. "Don't you find it interesting?"

Just as minutely, the blue haired girl gave a nod, eliciting a grin from Kirche. Worlds apart in looks and demeanor, the two of them both understood the value of keeping an ear open.

And what an earful they'd gotten.

Oh the servants confined the rumours to themselves in the fashion commoners did when they didn't want nobles listening in, but she had a keener ear than most of the other 'proper' Tristanian nobles in the Academy. A mystery mage was going about performing random acts of kindness for the servants in the last few days. And a skilled one at that, if the tale of blooming flowers were true. She'd heard the spirit theory as well, which had brought a chuckle to her lips.

Spirits were inscrutable, capricious beings. Powerful true, but not exactly not known for their generosity.

"What do you think, Blue?" She asked. "Mage or spirit?"

"Uncertain." Tabitha replied. "May be either. Inconclusive."

"Oh?" Kirche felt a delicate eyebrow arch at the statement.

"Unknown motive." Came the answer, followed by a short pause. "Cannot discern from evidence. But following pattern."

"The servants, right?" She guessed. "Whoever is doing it seems to be focusing on just them."

The diminutive girl flipped a page, never taking her eyes off the book as she nodded. "More. Events began in garden. Expanded to classroom later. Water first, then earth magic." There was a faint crinkling of her nose. "Possibly. No witnesses."

"From Zero's little blow up huh?" Kirche tapped a finger thoughtfully against her lips. She'd had almost considered the possibility that Valliere might have cajoled someone into helping her when she heard that tidbit. But the teachers were out for obvious reasons, and if it had been a fellow student, she'd have heard about it. Probably on the hour it happened. That left an outsider, though she couldn't imagine Louise going to all the trouble of sneaking someone in.

Not to mention that it just wasn't her style, she'd be far too proud to do something like that. Was the pinkette the culprit then...? She snorted at the thought. If that were the case, she was sure her favourite ball of fire would be shouting about her magical success from the rooftops. "You know, I spied a servant leaving some food by that tree the night before, the one with those pink blossoms?" She chuckled. "A bribe from a hopeful, I'd wager."

She didn't expect Tabitha to laugh with her, and she didn't, but the reply was startling.

"Possible connection." Tabitha nodded. "Origin point of first occurrence."

"Hmm, it started there, and now this." She drummed her fingers on the table in a rapid staccato, thoughts racing as she considered the implications. Asking the servant in question was out since she didn't know who it was. It had only been a brief glance, and in the darkness of night, she hadn't gotten a good look at the face either. But if the servant was hoping to bribe something out of this mystery person, then it could happen again. Which meant... "You know what this means, don't you Tabitha?"

This time it was Tabitha's turn to raise an eyebrow. Kirche knew it was the quiet girls way of saying "Yes, but you're going to tell me anyway."

"We're going to catch us a spirit of course." She explained breezily as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Kirche had to suppress a giggle at watching both of Tabitha's eyebrows rise minutely. In anyone slightly more expressive person, that would have been the same as jumping out of their chairs, screaming "Are you insane?"

"Just kidding, Blue, I don't intend to actually catch a spirit." She chuckled with a wave of her hand. She was a woman of passions, but she wasn't suicidal. "But I'm going to find out if it really is one."

"Why?"

"Why do it? Why, because it's fun, of course," she grinned at the skeptical tilt of Tabitha's eyebrow, "Oh come on Blue, if it is a spirit, can you imagine what we'll find out? Elementals interacting with people are so rare you can count the cases on one hand. The only one who even bothers to talk to anyone is that water spirit Montmorency likes to brag about. If there really is a spirit hanging around in the Academy ready to deal with humans, it'd be the find of the century."

There was a moment of silence as Tabitha digested what she'd said before replying. "Servants first."

The redhead nodded in acknowledgement, though her grin never faded. "I know they did, but that just makes it even more interesting. Come on, don't tell me you aren't interested at all in finding out how they did it." Someone else, probably one of those 'proper' Tristanian nobles might have raised a fuss about 'commoners intruding on a mage's prerogative' and all that, but Kirche didn't give an mouldy ecu about what they thought. If someone had really managed to get on friendly terms with a spirit, their lineage was largely irrelevant to her, she just wanted to find out how they did it. It wasn't the same as finding some handsome boy with fierce enough passion to match hers, but something like this had a draw all of its own. "So come on Blue, aren't you the least bit interested?"

There was another moment of silence before the blue haired girl gave the faintest of nods.

"Excellent! Now here's what I have in mind, seeing how our mystery person likes to work at night," Kirche clapped her hands delightedly, leaning forward as she began outlining her plan to find this elusive spirit.

Assuming of course, it really was a spirit and not an eccentric line or triangle class mage acting the role of a housekeeper. One skilled at covering his or her tracks, she added.

Whichever it turned out to be, she was sure finding out was going to be fun.

* * *

><p><em>The ancient serpent loomed before her, a towering beast of malevolent intellect that sought to spread darkness across the lands. It's pitch black scales were covered in impenetrable golden armour, the breath from its eight draconic heads crackling with fire, lightning and all the elements of the world in a storm of barely contained fury. A fell aura of darkness surrounded its form, deadly mists leaching the colour and life from the world all around it, leaving behind nothing but twisted skeletons and dessicated lands. The undulating coils of its enormous body towered over her as a titan did over an ant, an invincible avatar of destruction and death that would crush all who dared the insolence of continued existence beneath its gaze.<em>

_But she felt no fear as she matched its hateful gaze, never flinching as its piercing malice stabbed at her through baleful eyes._

_This anathema she had come to vanquish._

_This unnatural darkness, she would banish from the lands once again._

_It was her duty, her very purpose for existence. For that reason alone she would stand against the coming darkness._

_She stood her ground._

_For the sake of those it had taken. For the lives of those it would take. For those who had placed their hopes and wishes upon her, she would prevail._

_She howled her defiance._

_A swaying draconic head with a helm of red fire roared at her, its voice like a thunderstorm._

"_**One hundred years since you have imprisoned me here. One hundred years since your life was forfeit. How do you still live?"**_

**One hundred years? What did it mean- **_She did not waver, and she did not answer. Words were wasted on this being of evil._

"_**One hundred years in a cold stony tomb and now you stand before me?" **__Rolling thunder deafened her ears as serpentine heads shook with malevolent laughter. __**"Weak! You reek of decay!"**_

_It lunged at her, dripping fangs and snapping jaws wide enough to swallow her whole._

_But then she wasn't there anymore, nimbly darting to the side. The world twisted as she called forth her power, her will honed to become a mighty weapon. Not of crackling fire or twisting winds, but of the endless depths her being. Amongst the cacophony of battle, a single lightless pool of utter calm gathered within. Collected in a instant._

_Unleashed._

_Space twisted, pulses rippling through the air as a blade forged of pure nothingness struck the serpent's head._

**This was her magic? No, something was wrong- **_Light fractured. Sound shattered. The world screamed at the resonant discord of opposing realities. Her will was blunted against the armour's golden radiance as the dragon roared its triumph._

_Crackling flames and jets of piercing water were shot at her in an eye blink, faster than any flashing crossbow bolt. But she was faster still, the elements roaring about her as a howling gale swept the attack away before it could mark her flesh. She struck again, creation twisting to her will as void became real, manifesting into crude spheres that exploded with the force of a hurricane. The golden radiance shielded the dark beast from harm, but her hand was not yet played. Smoke and sound filled her senses, dark clouds obscuring her sight and scent._

**She was frightened. This was unlike anything-**

_But the serpent would not be thwarted so easily. Lightning crackled, shattering the ground where it struck. Bolts of blinding energy danced madly as they chased her across the smoke shrouded battlefield._

**How could she win? It seemed-**

_She never faltered, instinct and experience blending together into a whirling dash that permitted nothing to mark her flesh. Again she struck, and again she was rebuffed, the golden barrier weathering her strongest strikes without failing. It was no simple steel, no simple spell, but a crafted barrier of fell power greater than her own. But she never despaired, she never weakened. She would find the chink, wear it down if need be. The bamboo cutters. The daughters they had lost. Their sole remaining daughter. The villagers who knew of the coming darkness but could do naught but watch. She could not fail them._

_Howling blizzards and scorching firestorms of her own answered the serpent's as the sword of her will struck again. Boulders shattered and the ground was blackened as their whirling dance of death continued without pause._

**It wasn't working. Nothing seemed to.**

_She would not fail them._

**She was going to fail.**

_She was the light against the darkness._

**She was a shame upon her family.**

_She was the guardian._

**She was-**

_She was-_

Louise awoke to the sound of her thundering heart, panting as her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her.

"What... what was that?" She asked no one in particular as her room swam into focus. A dream, was the first answer that came to her. A vivid dream at that. It had felt so real, she couldn't immediately dismiss the emotions she had felt then. Even now she could still feel the ghost of the determination that had flooded her veins to vanquish an unstoppable tide of darkness. She could even remember the searing heat of the fires...

The power she had held.

She shook her head. It was just a dream, weird things happening in dreams were normal, right? But... she just couldn't shake the feeling. It was like whenever she had tried to use magic, pouring her willpower into the desired result and sensing the spell take form. It was the same, but it also wasn't. Magic wasn't supposed to feel that way when you called on it, not the way the books had said, not like how her sisters had described, and certainly not like how it felt when she cast a spell. Magic had to be tightly controlled, the focused will of the caster pushing against a world that didn't normally work that way.

In that dream world, it had been so easy. As if just having the intent was enough to set the world into motion as she willed it, the elements flowing like hot wax just the way she wanted it to. And then there was that spell. Even as everything faded into the shadows of fading dreams, that one spell remained distinctly sharp in her memories. It had no form, no physical shape, nothing that a spell should be like. It was not even shaped like a proper spell. Just simple will, poured into... a pure nothingness so strong it resonated within her even awake. Teasing her. It was wrong, an _alien _otherness that did not belong in. But it had felt so right.

Maybe...?

No, she shook her head, it was just a dream. One that tugged at her memories oddly, but still just a silly, silly dream for someone who couldn't even get a spell right without it exploding in her face. She couldn't even get a small fireball with a wand right, much less the wandless casting of blizzards and gales. She slumped over in her bed, hugging her pillows close to her body. Just a dream where she'd been powerful, mighty in magic above her wildest hopes, standing her own against a mighty hydra of unimaginable power... a dream of everything she _wasn't_.

She sighed, settling back on her bed as she stared up at the canopy. It had been two days since her accident in the classroom, two days of redoubling her efforts in trying to solve her magical deficiencies in her spare time. She'd taken to spending that time outside of the Academy grounds where nothing of import could be damaged, trying spell after spell until she was shaking from willpower deficiency. Everything from a simple light spell to the transmutation of an element. The only thing she had managed to discover in all that practice was the ability to produce a somewhat smaller explosion if she put less willpower into it, a consequence of casting when nearly drained. It was also very clear to her that at any range, her spells never flew straight for some odd reason.

And that her familiar behaved very oddly whenever she tried casting a spell. It was strange in its own way. She could understand it when her familiar tried to tell her about wanting something, or the opposite with a gesture or a flick of a tail. But she had been completely flummoxed by the odd pattern of barks, growls and huffs it had made after witnessing her spell casting firsthand. Speaking of which... she turned her head to the left.

She huffed, catching sight of the empty pile of hay that was her familiar's sleeping place**.**

Gone again. Typical.

Her familiar had probably walked out through the open balcony doors to wherever it had felt like going. It wasn't like a mere five storey drop was going to inconvenience her wall-climbing wolf. She'd also discovered early on that the door latchkey was no obstacle to an enterprising wolf who wanted to roam about at night without her knowledge.

Well at least there was _something _she could do about that.

She grabbed her wand from the table, making an elaborate motion with it before whispering to herself. "I see, and I hear."

It was rather odd, looking through her familiars eyes. Cattleya-nee had told her that wolves didn't see as well as humans did, but made up for it with much more sensitive smell and hearing. The first time she had done it, she was expecting colourless, and possibly blurry sight like what her elder sister had said. Instead, everything was much sharper than even her own sight. The colours were much more vivid, and when her familiar looked at some distant person, Louise could make out the individual stitches of their clothes. She couldn't find a reason to explain the incongruity with what she had been told, except that the exceptional sight was just more proof that her familiar was much more special than any mere wolf.

Sometimes she wondered what big sis Cattleya would have to say once the two of them met.

But that was something for her to think about on another day as the world through her familiar's eyes swam into focus.

"Figures," she muttered after a few seconds of looking, breaking the connection once she recognized the decorations of the Vestrii courtyard. Her familiar was obviously roaming the gardens if she was any judge. For a moment, she considered letting the matter pass and drifting back to sleep. Then the moment passed and with an annoyed sigh, she tossed aside her bed covers, reached for her clothes and began dressing up.

It wasn't like she was upset at the wolf for roaming, not at all. That was part of its nature so she could understand that.

But with the dreams she'd been having... she huffed. After something like that, she just wanted some company that would accept her just for herself. And then her familiar had to go off and leave her alone.

Stupid dog.

* * *

><p>It was well past the usual hours that saw the Academy staff, outside of the servants of course, walking out and about in its hallways. But even if anybody managed to catch sight of Miss Longueville as she made her way to the Headmaster's office which also doubled as his quarters, nobody would have commented on it. The duties of an assistant to the Headmaster were many, and sometimes a task would take precedence over the usual hours. And if that didn't work, well, she was quite a striking woman, and the headmaster was rumoured to be somewhat of a lecher... it didn't really need elaboration.<p>

There _might _have been some questions of a different sort had anyone noticed her producing a wand at the door. And there certainly would have been more questions if they had seen her face disappear into the shadows of her hooded cloak, the concealment magic within the garment masking both her features and voice. Not that there was anyone to see, she'd made certain of that.

Two swift taps of the magical focus, and formless wards against unwelcome intrusion flared into visibility. The secretary hummed quietly to herself as she examined them. Just a strengthening charm to prevent forced entry and a simple alarm ward if anyone broke in. Nothing particularly special about these. Another touch of finely honed willpower at the locus that held them together, and the wards faded away. Well, that was easy. Not even the kind of enchantments you'd expect from a triangle- wait, what was this? She furrowed her brow in concentration as she studied a seemingly innocuous part of the collapsing ward.

A secondary alarm trap tied to go off if the first failed, clever, but not enough to be her match.

She unwove that particular one too, and made her way inside.

Once inside, it wasn't hard finding Old Osmond, the opposite in fact. If her hood hadn't had an enchantment for low light vision, and if she were deaf, she'd probably have stumbled over his snoring body sprawled out in the middle of his study. Near the headmasters outstretched hand, a still smoking pipe lay on its side, smelling of Green River leaf and, if she concentrated hard enough, just the faintest lemony hint of one of her more potent sleeping draughts.

She smirked at the sight. The dirty old man was going to have one hell of a headache once he woke up. She told him smoking wasn't good for his health, and she'd meant it too.

His loss, her gain, just as planned. Mua ha ha.

Ha.

She sobered up quickly, turning over Osmond's limp body with quick professional movements and lightly patting down his pockets. A few moments later, her efforts produced an unassuming iron shod key that had been hung around his neck. The woman who called herself Longeuville regarded the plain thing with a measure of distrust, it was odd to think such a plain-looking thing was the key to the most priceless treasures the Academy possessed, but she pocketed it anyway.

This hadn't been her plan. Not now, and not this way. Presentation wasn't everything, but it was a large part of what she did. Albion, Gallia, Romania, her original plan for the Academy would have been as brazen as it would be inspiring, the culmination of years solidifying her reputation as one of the best in the business. Skulking about like a common thief, much less pawing at the lecherous old man, eugh, it went against her pride as a professional. But she'd learned early on in her career first as a treasure hunter and then as a professional acquisitions agent that it always paid to pay attention to everything. Sometimes noticing the smallest detail made the difference between payoff and ending up dead.

And there had been all sorts of signals that had set her off her mental alarms in the last few days.

She'd seen the sun rising far too early for the time of the year, joked about it with her faux colleagues even. But she kept what her gut instincts were saying to herself, the next three days only adding to them. The Blue Sprite flowers were a coincidence, she was certain. There was no deeper meaning to that, her past was a piece of dead history and would stay that way. But she was all but certain that there was a connection between the events, tenuous as it was. All of it focused on the academy. There was another player in this little scene with a not insignificant amount of power and a taste for melodrama, and it wasn't her.

Foquet the thief was a brazen, powerful mage who robbed the snooty nobles of their treasures and rubbed their impotence in their faces, but she wasn't stupid. She could see the writing on the wall well enough.

This was going be a quick and more importantly, quiet job.

* * *

><p>Shiranui closed her eyes, feeling presence of the child withdrawing from her senses as the spell was ended. She felt a touch of wry amusement at the lingering ghost of the child's emotions upon her consciousness, knowing full well the cause of the ire. It would not be long before the child sought her out, though whether to seek companionship or to chastise her absence, she could not say. Perhaps both.<p>

She huffed lightly, padding quietly between the shadows of the garden. In truth, the child should not yet have awoken for many reasons. For one, she had not rested well that night, and the coming morning would see her ill prepared to meet her lessons. And yet for another, her awakening had ended a lesson before its conclusion. She had pondered long upon her chosen course, a day and a night had passed as she sought an answer. What words could she give in this form, that the child could understand and take to heart?

But words were not the proper path, she had concluded in the end. She could not teach the Fifth Movement to the childas a human would, but she could show the path in her own way. A well worn path she herself had walked in an existence long since past.

In time, she hoped, the seed would take root within the child's heart and set her upon the course she so desperately desired.

Time... she flicked her tail in amusement, pausing for a moment to taste the air and finding no presence in the garden beside her own. She had been content to wait for the child to mature on her own through the passage of seasons as was proper. But her choice had been undone so soon after it had been made, for to wait was to see the end of her growth before it had blossomed. And that was not within her being to permit. But she could not help but ponder at the circumstances that forced her choice.

Not all fates were set upon unmoving stone, for the course of the river flowed freely, and even the most stubborn of stones could be shifted in time. But there were those with a weight that did not come lightly, possessed of an urgency greater than most felt. Perhaps the fates that tied them together would place more than the burden of a simple guardian and companion upon their bond. Perhaps it would be as before, when Sakuya had entreated upon her presence to stand against the coming darkness.

Disappearing into a hedge row, she huffed.

But if it was, she did not doubt that it would be some other thread of fate that loomed before them. There was no coming darkness she could feel in this place, no corrupted taint of the shadowed ones upon the land. It would be-

She paused, her train of thought ended as her senses alerted her to a presence that had not been there before. A presence of a watcher, more than one.

What was this?

She could not see, for the hedge row obscured her vision, but sight was only but one of her senses. She stilled herself, focusing her thoughts outwards as she waited. She was not kept waiting for long, as the sounds of a beating wing drifted past her ears. Another long pause, and then another rush of a wing striking the air, heavier than she had expected. A creature of flight then she reasoned, but larger than most sky born creatures she knew.

Except one.

"...see anything..."

Even to her, the words were faint, barely heard before they were washed away by the sound of another stroke of wings that surely bore the speaker. To another, it was too distant, too faint to ever touch upon their awareness. It suggested distance, but also watchfulness.

She did not make a sound, nor did she move, yet amusement tinged her thoughts as she realized just who her would-be watcher was. The voice did not belong to the silent child who was the dragon's master, but the red maned one whom she had lightly chastised days before. But where one was, so too would the other be. No shikigami nor guardian creature would consent to the command of another without the agreement of their master. And now the three searched from the skies above for something unspoken.

Now she did make a sound, a soft exhalation of noise that was but a whisper of an amused huff.

It was not difficult to divine a reason for their presence and their goals. Was it pride, she pondered, to think that the two children were searching for her? Not _her_, for they did not yet know it was her they sought, but the one who had begun the mysteries that the servants spoke of when they believed no one else could hear. If so, then it was most curious. She had surmised it would not be long before her actions would come to notice, though she took pains to hide them. But she had expected that it would be their elders, the instructors who would pay heed and investigate.

That it was the children who acted first, a bubble of amusement touched upon her, then there were much deeper depths within their spirit than the others.

But the revelation, if true, meant that she would need to ponder her next step. She could not approach the sakura tree, where Siesta had left an offering, without notice. And yet even if the children saw her, they would not know what to look for, save only the simplest of things that their eyes told them. For what would they see, other than the pale wolf they believed bound to their fellow student? But such a simple recourse did not appeal to her, not on this night of reflection.

A low huff escaped her throat as her path became apparent to her. She gathered her will, touching upon air and water as only she could. It was not yet time for others to know her true nature, yet it was her path that had led them here. If it was a mystery that the young ones sought, then perhaps she could gift them with one to follow. The arts of the _ku_ were not taught in this place, but though there was lack in one, in others there was abundance.

It would be good to take measure of the will and wit of those who thread upon the path of the spirit arts.

* * *

><p>"What the-?"<p>

Kirche blinked as the thick billowing fog materialized in the middle of the Vestrii courtyard, completely hiding everything beneath a roiling cloud of white. From her vantage point on Sylphid's back, easily a thousand feet off the ground, she could see that the entire courtyard was engulfed by the fog from the outer walls of the Academy to the central tower. It was so thick, only the tips of the tallest trees could be seen poking out from beneath the mess. More importantly, it obscured their biggest clue.

It wasn't particularly big in terms of size, but Kirche had put her ear to the ground for the best clues to follow, and this was it. A bowl of stew taken from the kitchens. Not that she'd put it there, no. The one responsible had been a maidservant, possibly the same one mentioned in the rumours before. To Kirche, seeing it through a small spyglass from her vantage point in the sky, it all but confirmed that the previous bribe attempt had been successful to some degree, and that they were going to catch their mysterious person in the act that very night.

Of course, that was before the fog appeared and hid everything.

But Kirche didn't get to be a woman of passions by being slow on the uptake, a grin quickly gracing her face. If she wasn't holding onto the saddle, she'd be rubbing her hands in glee. That fog wasn't natural, which meant wind magic had to be involved to conjure up the necessary Cloud spell. And that meant their mystery man or spirit was about to make their move. Of course the fog bank made it hard to see anything down there, even with the sharp eyes of Tabitha's wind dragon to help.

"My my my, aren't you erudite one? Water, Earth _and_ Wind magic now? Will you show me Fire as well?" She murmured appreciatively. "It's clever, but that's not going to hide you for long," she chuckled, reaching for her wand with her free hand. A little bit of heat, and the entire Cloud spell would fall apart like a house of cards. Without even looking back, Tabitha's staff bopped her wand hand before she could do anything though.

"Hey, careful Tabitha," she hissed, "you nearly made me drop my wand."

"Wait." The terminally quiet girl admonished. "Too soon."

"You think our mystery actor is just testing for a response?" She asked after a second of thinking and getting a brief bob of Tabitha's head in reply.

"Too obvious. Concealment unnecessary if not expecting watchers."

"Well, we can't fly all night waiting for him to make a move that might not come either."

"Will not happen." Tabitha paused for a moment before clarifying. "Subject will act soon."

"How do you know?"

In response, the diminutive girl pointed down to the courtyard with her staff. Following the gesture with her eyes, Kirche spotted the top of the Serullata tree poking out from beneath the fog bank, the rest- wait a minute.. the clouds were a little less thick there than the rest of the courtyard. She could actually see the ground through the fog. And there at the base of the tree, was the slightly indistinct shape of the bowl of food the maid had left there earlier.

"Bait not taken yet."

It only took a moment for Kirche to catch the very faint, almost invisible glow surrounding the tip of Tabitha's staff. But once she did notice it, as well as the direction of the spell, her friend's plan becoming apparent to her in an instant. Just a touch of a wind spell, enough to thin the fog where it mattered most, but not enough to give them away. She grinned. It was a game of deception and counter-deception then!

"But soon." Kirche pressed, the unspoken plan being that once that happened, they would make their move. Although what that move would be depended entirely on how things turned out.

The blue haired girl nodded, and Kirche settled back to wait just a little more.

Whatever the outcome though, she was certain things were going to get interesting.

* * *

><p>Louise was upset, muttering a number of imprecations under her breath that would have been normally beneath her station. There were a number of good reasons for that. She was decidedly lost, damp, chilly, frustrated at her lack of progress at finding errant familiars because she couldn't find her way, and did she mention she was lost? On the school grounds no less! It was humiliating! She'd been here for over a year now, and the gardens of the Vestrii courtyard were anything but a maze. Even a babe should have been able to find her way. If anyone saw her now, she'd never live it down.<p>

It was the damnable fog's fault, she grumbled. She'd only just made her way to the courtyard entrance only to find a wall of that nearly impermeable cloud drifting in front of her. It was so thick, she could have cut it with a knife and put it on a cake. She could have turned around and gone back to bed at that point. If the wolf was still in there, the faint moonlight and pale fog would all but make her familiar invisible with its white coat.

But she wasn't going to give up, Founder bedamned fog or not. She'd made up her mind to find her familiar, and she was going to do it.

Just because she couldn't see beyond her own two feet didn't mean she'd turn tail...

A short while later and after blindly stumbling into a hedge row for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Louise was willing to reconsider the wisdom of trying to find her familiar. Not only hadn't she succeeded, she wasn't even sure if she could find her way back. She was almost tempted to just take out her wand and flail at it with all the magic she could muster. Her spells might have always ended in failure, but at least the explosions would be good for blasting away this dratted fog. The only reason why she hadn't so far was because she was likely to damage the gardens in the process and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

And to make matters worse, when she tried to see through her familiar's eyes, all she got was a big black nothing. If her familiar had gone back while she was stumbling around in this fog like some blind urchin, if it had gone to sleep while she was cold and miserable... she was going to collar that wandering dog, just see if she-

There wasn't any warning.

One moment, she was still trying to navigate through the impermeable fog, unable to even see her a few feet in front of her. The next, a dark shape all but materialized out of the muck almost right on top of her.

Louise narrowly avoided colliding with the thing when she jerked back in surprise, her feet tripping and falling on her backside with a startled yell.

The shadowy figure jerked back as well, though it neither fell down nor yelled. Cold, wet, and now with a sore rear end, Louise shouted the first thing that came to her mind.

"Who's there?"

* * *

><p>"Who's there?"<p>

It was a question she shared as well, though she did not voice it. She had been aware of the child's presence the moment she had entered the veil of mists, feeling the approaching bond that they shared. Even without the ghost of emotions that lingered when the child had ended her spell, divining her intent and purpose was a simple matter. But the child would not find her unless permitted, no matter how she strived. The veil was of her own making, sustained by her will as a means to slow and ensnare the senses of those within its embrace.

And for a moment, as she felt the child make her way, she had considered answering the child's unspoken demand.

But the white wolf had dismissed the thought, biding time in her hiding place as the children in the skies above continued their vigil. It was not beyond her means to watch over the child as she always had, ensuring that no harm befell her petitioner even as she awaited the next step of her young seekers. Already they had touched upon her veil with the barest whisper of _Fu,_ lessening its embrace where the sakura tree stood but not ending it fully. A clever ploy, she had thought, one that would have escaped her notice had she not been waiting for such an act.

She would have been content with this duality of guardianship and patient exchange of will and wit for a time. But the presence of the other had seized her attention.

She did not know this one, nor had she sensed her approach within the veil. Only when her petitioner had called out, did the presence become known to her. And even then, with all her senses placed upon the unknown one, she found that much had been obscured behind a veil much like her own. An aura of _chi_ exuded from this one, stronger than within the children she had seen before, it's earthen scent heavy yet sharply drawn in a fashion that spoke of many years of mastery.

She rose from her concealment, quickly closing the distance to the child as her thoughts focused upon this unknown presence.

The answer came swiftly. A human hiss of frustration, accompanied by the the tremor of _chi _as it flowed and focused into a spell. But even before it began to form, she could smell the human's intent.

A spell to strike down her ward.

_No!_

She crossed the span in a single bound, seizing upon the world as she bent it to her will. A blunt lance of stone struck out at the child with blinding speed. But she was already there. The world split as she commanded, space and time parting as a blade formed not of the Five Movements, but of her purest will alone moved to strike at the assailant's weapon. The artifice of _chi _met her will and shattered, reduced to dust in a single thunderclap.

The veil of mists unraveled, fading away as she stood her ground, her fangs barred before the assailant. Cloaked in concealing fabrics and magic, the human before her clutched a large box in one hand, the other holding an implement that focused the will of a spirit user. She could not see the face behind the cloak the human wore, but there were other scents she had come to associate with them. Frustration. Surprise.

"That- that was an earth spell" The child stammered, an accusing finger pointed towards the cloaked human, "You attacked me!"

Anger entered the scent. Anger and determination. The voice issuing from the human was toneless and flat as a wand was raised again.

"And little children should be asleep."

Shiranui growled a challenge.

It was answered with a stony eruption.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And the next chapter is up. Yes, Derf is conspicuously missing from the upcoming fight, but given the events of the story, Louise never had an opportunity or motive to go shopping in the capital. I wouldn't worry too much about that though. There'll be a bit of a delay until the next chapter however, due to the various writing projects I have running at the moment. _

_**Zaru: So did Ammy fly or jump real fast?**_

_Ammy cannot fly per se. But she is capable of wall running as well as mid-air jumps. As to combat abilities, the answer is a definite yes. For further details, please consult the Okami wiki because it'd take too long to list them out here._

_**Heavenly Observer: Any mentions of Chibiterasu gonna be made? Did Issun ever find her again?**_

_That would be spoilers now, wouldn't it? She does have however, her full stock of, oh wait. Spoilers there too. Let's just say she's not hurting for lack of Derf.  
><em>


	5. Chapter 05

_Disclaimer: Yada yada, I don't own the IP. Ammy owns half of it. Not sure how Capcom/Clover Studio would sue a goddess anyhow...  
><em>

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 05**

"_Bless the Founder's gift. For it is both the sword and shield of His people. And in times of trouble, it is the sword that is most prized." _- Bishop Lestrande, Treatises on Magic, Page 01 chapter I

* * *

><p>The child had been attacked. The reasons did not matter, the weaver had struck at the child with her spirit arts, the strength within them enough to cause lasting harm had it landed. Shiranui felt the taste of anger, the protective instinct of her chosen form urging her to strike. To bite and tear at the soft flesh of the spirit user for her audacity. To end the threat before the hidden assailant could strike once more at the child.<p>

Her child.

She hesitated, reined in the raging anger. The child was not truly hers, though she was her chosen guardian. The white wolf was her chosen form, but the instinct within was not her master. Neither truth bore the reason for her hesitation. She would protect the child as her own. She would strike down those who would bring her harm.

But the weaver was not like the oni she faced before, not a soulless creation of darkness nor cruel demon from beyond her realm who's only fate was to be banished and undone. It was a human she faced, one who walked beneath her blessings. Even if the assailant had struck at her charge, she would not withdraw it lightly. She growled, her chosen language a warning to the spirit user instead of claw, fang and divine will upon this world. Turn away. Do not force this conflict. Her choice burned against the instinct that demanded blood be spilled.

Her warning went unheeded.

"Lights out, children."

Though her veil of mists had faded, it's effects lingered still. In the stretched grasp of time, she saw the spirit user gesture with a hand, and the flows of _chi _manifesting to the weaver's will_._ The earth rumbled, stone hammers rising from the ground. The child cried out in alarm, raising an arm to futilely ward against the coming blows.

Shiranui snarled her frustration and anger.

_'Foolish.'_

She moved, darting towards the child, pushing her down before the strike could land. As the hammers fell, she stood over the child, her visage raised in defiance.

And as time demanded it's due, the final vestiges of her veil collapsing, she howled.

* * *

><p>Her familiar was growling.<p>

Louise was vaguely aware of that. It seemed important somehow. Yet her mind could not shift away from one important fact.

She had been attacked. Someone she didn't know, it was impossible to tell the person's gender or identity, the closed cloak concealed any distinguishing traits, had attacked her. The only thing she knew for certain was that whoever it was, that person had struck to kill. For all of Louise's painful experience with her more magically adept peers, for all the stories she had listened to of it's more martial aspects, she had never been struck at before with magic, not like this. Verbal barbs she was more than used to, but not _this. _She had frozen at the realization, unable to even respond except to stare uncomprehendingly at her would be assailant.

Even when it seemed like she was going to be beaten to death by cudgels made of enchanted earth.

But then her familiar intervened, the white wolf knocking her down to the ground in a blur of movement. She barely had time to gasp before her familiar leaped atop her prone form, standing protectively over her body against the attack. Realization struck her in that instant, with enough force to break through her shock. She understood her familiar's intent there and then. How futile it would be. She opened her mouth, to call the wolf's name, to protest, anything.

The white wolf howled.

Time stilled. Sound faded. The world froze. Louise felt her stomach fall up into the skies and stretch to infinity. Light thinned, color faded, leached until only shades of gray remained. Reality twisted, warped. A great pressure bore down. Something shattered. _Ended_.

The cudgels exploded.

Time resumed it's normal pace, sight fled as the resulting smoke enveloped her. But only for an instant. A gust of wind howled, clearing the smoke and revealing her familiar.

"Shiranui!"

The wolf stood before the person, hackles raised with bared fangs. There was a low snarl, a threatening sound so full of anger and bloody promise that she felt the hairs on her neck rise. Her attacker fell back a step, though the wand never faltered.

"Smart kid" The mage muttered at Louise, cocking a head as Shiranui's growl grew in intensity.

"But not clever enough!"

The wand twitched.

The earth rumbled.

The wolf lunged.

Thick walls of stone abruptly erupted from the ground, shielding the mage from Shiranui's charge. But the wolf twisted in the air, landing on the walls with her feet instead of smashing into them head first.

More blocks of stone rose, a growing wall racing to encircle them both. Louise scrabbled backwards, her eyes wide as she tried to escape the closing trap. But she could tell she wasn't fast enough. She wouldn't make-

The white mass of her familiar blurred past. Louise felt something jerk around her neck-

"Urk-"

**Hard.**

The next few hearbeats were a confused jumble of images.

Crushing pain on her throat. A reflexive gasp for air that wouldn't come. Bouncing off the ground. The stone walls closing in on her. Flying past them. The thundering beat of her heart. Sudden vertigo, the world whirling around her. Landing on the warm back of her familiar, and the release of pressure on her throat. The crunch of grinding rock as she gulped in a desperate breath.

A toneless oath.

The world spun again as her familiar whirled about, the sudden stop jarring her senses. It took several moments before Louise could properly focus on what was going on in front of her. A smooth sphere of stone sat in the place where she had occupied just moments ago. A second slower and... she could see it herself, trapped with her familiar inside a dark, cramped stone shell with no way out. A shell that would shrink and crush them. It was enough to send a shiver down her spine.

But instead of pressing the attack, there was only a sudden silence and stillness. It only took a moment for Louise to catch sight of the mage, and the reason why. The cloaked figure was still there, hand outstretched in her direction. But the wand was missing in that hand, and a shell of frost covered the person from neck down. A sparkling object on the ground drew her eye, the reflected moonlight betraying the mage's wand, similarly encased in a block of ice.

A wind mage, line class at least, one with dot or line levels of control in water to achieve that level of precision. For someone who had paid as much attention to the academics of magic, the conclusion was almost instinctive to her. The second conclusion that floated to the forefront was that the mysterious attacker had been disarmed now, and she began to relax.

She almost began to look around, to try and find the person who had intervened.

"What a surprise finding you here, Zero." A familiar voice from above called down. "Who's your friend?"

Louise nearly swore aloud. Of all the people to show up at this time. The logical part of her mind was grateful for the intervention, because she hadn't been able to stop the mage from attacking her on her own. Another, more shameful part berated her lack of ability, how she had to rely on others than dealing with problems like this on her own.

"Zerbst," Louise ground out tightly, and in a somewhat less annoyed voice, "Tabitha."

Riding atop the blue haired girl's dragon, the two girls came swooping down from above to land beside her. The redhead had a curious expression on her face, seemingly running from one emotion to the next without pausing.

"You know, I'd love to ask what you were doing out here and all that," she began, throwing a meaningful look at the white wolf. Shiranui simply made a curious sound and cocked her head, the motion tilting Louise's sense of balance, reminding her that she was still sitting atop the wolf. "And why you're riding your familiar like a horse, but I think our mystery mage here is a little more important."

She gestured at the trapped person.

"What do you think Tabitha? Think he's the one we're-"

"Heh."

That androgynous laugh was all the warning they had. Shards of earth instantly exploded upwards all around the mage, shattering the cage. Splinters of ice and stone flew in all directions as the dragon launched itself upwards, taking the squawking Kirche with it. Without a similar means of escape, Louise saw the wall of sharp edged debris coming towards her. And then she was sharply jerked aside, her familiar darting sharply away from the storm of fragments.

The ground tore apart beneath them, a rocky edifice ripping out from the earth. Louise had only time to recognize the shape of a stony fist before it struck.

Her world exploded in pain.

* * *

><p>"Founders blood!" Kirche swore, "Louise!"<p>

Tabitha's sudden ascent had caught her off guard, but she still saw the attack coming before Louise did. The Germanian already had her wand in her fingers and a bubble of willpower ready to burn. But it was too close, too damned close. She couldn't do anything without catching the pinkette in it too. Her wolf familiar twisted in mid stride, tried to shift directions and avoid it.

It wasn't enough.

Kirche flinched as the giant stone fist impacted against the familiar. The wolf had turned, shielding rider with its own body. The sickening crunch of shattering bone was audible even to her. Rider and wolf both went flying in different directions, the girl bouncing off the lawn like a rag doll before rolling to a stop. Her familiar was less fortunate, the battering ram smashing the wolf into an oaken tree with enough force to snap the trunk in half. Both vanished under the avalanche of groaning wood.

Kirche had always been a woman of passions. Of ardent fire in any pursuit no matter what obstacle presented itself. It didn't matter what the goal was, only that she chased it down with all the fire she carried in her life.

That fire now took the form of the most powerful magic she could command. The earth mage was still there, standing in the middle of a ring of stone spikes that were rapidly disappearing. The stone melted and flowed, spears reshaping around the mage like a second skin of rock-like substance. There was no long aria, no chanting of any length. No warning. Kirche spat out the command word and let her willpower flow.

But as fast as she was, Tabitha was even faster.

Shards of ice as thick as her arm rained down on the earth mage, burying him under a glittering storm. A moment later, a roaring ball of fire exploded outwards from where he had stood, the incineration spell flashing ice to steam and covering a dozen paces of Academy grounds in a blazing pyre. The grass nearby blackened and ignited from the heat of the flames, which were strong enough to melt stone, never mind the flesh and blood of the mage at its centre.

She kept the fire going a few seconds more for good measure, sustaining the spell until only a scorched blacken circle remained on the ground.

"Quickly Tabitha, bring Sylphid down," she urged once the flames guttered out, leaving no trace of the mage behind nor any further sign of earth magic, "we need to go check on Louise."

The diminutive girl nodded her head minutely, gesturing downwards with her staff. "Still alive."

Following her motion, Kirche took a quick look to where the pinkette had fallen, fearing the worst. She wasn't going to forget the sound of shattering bone anytime soon. But to her relief, her favourite nemesis was starting to unsteadily pick herself up off the ground instead of lying on the ground with a broken and battered body.

The same couldn't be said for the... the redhead goggled.

She had seen the impact of the golem's half formed fist, had heard the dry snap of bone breaking. An oak tree had been used as a anvil on top of that. Kirche was no healer nor veteran fighter, but nothing short of a dragon should have come out of that walking, much less unscathed. And yet the Louise's familiar was emerging from the tangled mass of fallen branches, walking on all fours without any sign of even a limp.

Whatever she was about to say, whatever she was about to think, it died a quick death as the ground erupted underneath them in a shower of dust and stones. Two pairs of gigantic stone arms burst from the cloud, palms open as they raced for them.

Sylphid cried out in alarm, the dragon bucking and threatening to unseat the both of them as she rapidly took to the skies. Palms the size of wagons smashed against each other in a bone shaking thunderclap, crushing the empty air they had occupied only moments ago.

The shrinking figures of Louise and her familiar vanished under the erupting dust cloud, but the arms continued to rise. A rounded head of stone began to surface from the still rumbling ground, shedding dirt and swirling dust as it did. And then a torso followed, eventually culminating in a gigantic earthen figure almost as tall as the central tower of the Academy. The massive stone facade that was its face swivelled to track the airborne duo, a conjured trio of ice lances shattering harmlessly off its armoured skin.

"WELL DONE CHILDREN." The heavily amplified voice of the earth mage boomed from the construct, "I HAD NOT PLANNED ON THIS. BUT SINCE YOU INSIST-"

Faster than its size belied, the golem reached down and tore a tree from the ground, hefting the thing like a throwing spear.

"FOUQUET OF THE CRUMBLING DIRT WILL TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY!"

* * *

><p>A body lay in the darkness of the room, face up, limbs stretched at odd angles, frozen where they had lain. A gnarled oaken staff as tall as the body lay strewn across the floor, as if knocked free from a desperate grasp. The room itself was a jumble, of chaotically placed papers, books and carelessly placed furniture.<p>

It would have been easy to mistake the body for a corpse, save for the rhythmic rise and fall of the sparse chest, the loud snores that emanated from somewhere within the voluminous beard. It would have been easier to believe that the state of the room was the result of a struggle, save that its lone occupant was by nature, a rather haphazard man when it came to housekeeping.

A twitch.

Osmond was up on his feet in an instant, all signs of inebriation gone as his staff leaped off the ground and into his waiting hand. Piercing eyes glared out from behind forest-like eyebrows, menacingly sweeping the room with glare and crackling staff.

"Hah! Thought to get me unawares did you! You'll not get my he- errr..."

And finding absolutely nothing in it.

"Oh," Headmaster Osmond blinked, certain bits of memory suggesting that his reactions weren't quite appropriate. "Right. Not the Gallian university."

Squeak.

Turning towards the source of the sound, Osmond directed an exasperated look at his familiar.

"No Chuchu, it's not an overreaction on my part. You remember how it was like back there. But to get to the point, I didn't forget the usual protection charms. Honestly, you make it sound like I've lost my wits." He put out a hand, the tiny white mouse scampering up the offered limb before settling on his shoulder. "A time delayed purification spell isn't something so obscure that I'd forget something like that at my age."

There was an upturned nose at that, with a skeptical squeak.

"Part of the plan old friend," he picked up his pipe, taking sure to empty it's contents before filling it again with some leaf from his personal pouch. "You didn't think I was just a senile old man with a thing for pretty faces, did you?"

Another squeak.

"Well, not _just_ pretty faces." He added a little defensively.

A third squeak, this time with the mouse covering his nose with a paw.

"Oh come now, Chuchu, letting a vibrant young woman put her hands all over me was merely an incidental part of the plan." He harrumphed. "It's not like I could keep the key in the usual place now, could I?"

There was a silence that suggested the possibility of an eye roll had his familiar been human.

"Oh, it'll work out, I'm quite sure. By now, she'll be making her escape, leading us to whoever it is that's a little too interested in the Academy's treasures."

This time there was another squeak, rather sarcastically at that.

"Such language Chuchu, where have you been learning it from? Those dratted field mice I'm sure. Of course I meant the Staff of Destruction, and not Miss Longueville even if she does have quite the entrancing pair of legs. If riches was all she wanted, she would have made off with much more than just that musty old thing. Come now, let's have a look at the scrying crystal shall we?" A snap of his fingers, and the mage-light by his desk ignited, illuminating the room with flickering blue fire. "That tracking spell should lead us right to her-"

His words were cut off by a deep rumbling sound, punctuated by a deafening thunderclap that set his old bones to rattling. Outside his window, the headmaster could make out the form of a gargantuan golem towering over the Academy grounds, as well as several much tinier figures who were very likely two people and a dragon. And a rather large crater in the ground incidentally.

"Or we could look out the window." He sighed, pondering for only a moment before reaching into the folds of his robes. "I don't suppose it's just a case of hotheaded students with a little too much energy having their fun." Osmond winced as the golem uprooted a stately oak tree with its fists and threw it at the dragon riding pair like a spear. The impromptu spear narrowly missed them. Just.

No, most definitely not fun. Best to use the Bell of Tranquility before- wait.

Blue fire? His eyes instantly darted to the mage-light on his desk. Osmond hadn't gotten to the title of 'Old' by being slow of wit, and he quickly channeled willpower into his staff. Just a spell of-

The implement clattered to the floor from his suddenly nerveless fingers, the spell fizzling before it could even take form. The headmaster tried holding his breath, but it was already too late, his legs sagging to the ground as the strength drained from them. Beside him, Chuchu squeaked worriedly, even as his eyes began drooping shut.

Drat it, he thought, consciousness slipping away.

Shapely legs or not, this was going entirely too far.

* * *

><p><em>Child!<em>

Shiranui raced through the heaving earth, heedless of the shaking ground that threatened to break apart beneath her and the billowing clouds of dust that obscured the world, trusting to her instinct and her arts to find sure footing wherever she wished. The lumbering construct of _chi _towered above her, its every step causing the ground to shake and tremble. A single moment of inattention, and she would be crushed beneath its massive feet. Yet she ran on, nimbly avoiding the shikigami's feet as it reached down to uproot a tree.

She had hesitated, doubted the intent she had scented coming from the spirit user when it seemed needless conflict could be avoided. The lapse had cost them all, needlessly endangering the child she had pledged to protect.

The spirit user had not given pause, striking without mercy and inflicting grievous harm upon her body. She would have been ended then, had she not drawn upon the stored treasures within her realm to sustain her existence. But the pain was momentary, a small thing to bear against the greater concern. The child was still in great danger, and until she was there to safeguard her, all else was secondary.

Choking dust filled the air, stealing her sight. Yet even in this form, the remaining senses it bore were sufficient to warn and guide her. The child was not far now, but the shikigami was nearer still. She leaped, narrowly avoiding the sweeping foot of the towering clay-born warrior. The earth cracked beneath its feet, jagged tears in the soil threatening to swallow her whole. But with no malice guiding its steps to bear down on her, the shikigami would not touch her.

For its attention lay with the two.

She recognized the child with the mane of autumn, and the other with the colour of the sky. Fellow students alongside her child, they had answered to the foe with the arts of _fu _and _ka_. Yet their strength was insufficient, the shikigami of _chi_ absorbing their blows without faltering even as it sought to bring them down from the sky.

Shiranui was grateful to them. The spirit user of _chi_ would not focus on her child while the two continued their attacks. But she knew it could not last for long. To use the arts was to drain one's vitality, and mortals possessed far smaller reserves than one such as her. Even amidst the chaos of battle, she could sense the cost each tongue of _fu_ or spear of _ka _brought upon its users. Alone and unaided, the foe would outlast the two.

She could not aid them now, not yet when she had still to reach the little one.

But once the child was safe. Once she was sure. Her strength was not as it had once been, her work in this land yet to fully take root. But for this spirit user, for this trespass against their bond, it would be sufficient. And if not... she spared a single thought towards her inner self, of the treasures that slumbered within the astral realm. They were pure, untainted by the life waters of the children of the world, of the malice that such a use would require. She had to take the greatest care then. Her instincts burned with the desire to protect, a righteous anger against those who would do the unforgivable. To draw too deep, to immerse herself in what must be felt sparingly, was to fall.

But she would no longer hesitate.

* * *

><p>Fouquet.<p>

The Crumbling Dirt.

Bruised, hurting and still lightheaded from the tumble she had taken, Louise felt her stomach heave at the thought. The swirling dust clouds made it impossible to see very far, almost impossible to breathe even with her sleeve pressed to her mouth to filter out the worst of it. But she could see enough, the towering golem obscuring the night sky as it lumbered across the garden with bone rattling steps. The scourge of all four Brimiric nations had tried to... to kill her. Because... her mind groped for a reason, because she'd probably gotten in the way she finally realized. Just like that, struck down as callously as one would kick aside a pebble in the way.

But the shock of the moment was quickly passing, as was the spike of fear that seized her once she realized the identity of her attacker. She was hurt, feeling like a mass of bruises, but she was alive. Alive to see another day.

To fight.

"Shiranui." She whispered, a sense of loss and anger intermingling within her heart.

Her wolf had taken a blow meant for her, shielded her at the last moment before the world was sent spinning. And now she was gone. She couldn't see her familiar in the chaos of the battle, but surely the wolf would be at her side if it could. If Shiranui was able. A familiar protected its master from all dangers, Brimir's doctrine tolled in her mind. No matter the cost to itself. In her horrified imagination, the broken and bloodied body of her familiar lay lifelessly on the Academy grounds. Or an unidentifiable stain, crushed beyond all recognition by the towering golems foot. Or... or...

No.

She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. Renewed purpose driving her actions, she pulled out her wand, the baton-like focii a warm comforting weight in her hands. She was Louise de la Valliere. A familiar reflected a mage, and hers was strong, beautiful, mysterious. A creature unlike any other, with strange abilities she could not fully explain. Shiranui would not be so easily killed. She wouldn't cower like some worthless plebian child. She wouldn't lose her heart because her familiar was... injured. The tiny blaze of hurt and pain she had felt earlier burned anew growing into a conflagration that demanded release. How dare that thief try to steal from the Academy. How dare that lowlife strike at her. How _dare _he harm her familiar!

Vallieres did not cry. Vallieres were steel. Unbending. Strong. They did not grieve and become weak when there were enemies yet to defeat. The wand snapped out, easily marking out the focus of her ire despite the heaving ground. The golem stood like a fortress, weathering the twin assaults of elemental magic from Kirche and Tabitha like rain.

She gathered her willpower, focused her magic into a singular purpose. The holy energies of Brimir's faithful pulsed in her mind and body like a living thing, begging for release as she fed it all her rage and anger.

Despite all her failures in spellcraft, they were still good for one thing.

Destruction.

"Fireball!"

As the golem lifted it's arm, a tree clutched in its fist like a spear, she felt the willpower rush through her, running through her body and into the wand, the energies of magic whirling into the fireball she wanted. It twisted, coalesced, and like all her spells at the cusp of forming, violently scattered.

A thunderclap detonation shook the courtyard, smoke and light exploding all across the golem's raised arm. Fist and tree alike disintegrated, rocky fragments and kindling sent hissing spitefully through the air. With a tearing groan, the limb broke free from the golem, falling to the grounds where it shattered with an ear splitting crash.

Looking at the result, a fierce grin worked it's way up Louise's face. All those times she'd been called a failure, all the taunts of her worth, and her magic was the only one capable of harming Fouquet's golem. But it wasn't enough. Her vindication, her revenge against the thief for hurting her familiar hadn't even begun to slake. Not until the thief was defeated and captured. She lifted the wand again.

The golem's head turned to lock gazes with her, and suddenly the spell she'd been about to cast faltered on her lips.

"OH WELL DONE. YOU'VE MANAGED TO INCONVENIENCE ME BY ALL OF THREE SECONDS. THAT'S THREE SECONDS BETTER THAN THE OTHER TWO." Fouquet's amplified voice boomed from the golem, ignoring the spears of ice that bounced off its cranium. Earth groaned and rumbled, the golem's arm regenerating from the empty stump in less time than it had taken to fall off. "BUT OH LOOK AT THE TIME. I HAVE PLACES TO BE AND TREASURES TO STEAL. TOODLES.."

With those words, the golem tucked its shoulders inwards and began running.

Charging right towards her.

Despite the wand in her hand, she froze. Her eyes widened as far as they could go as the giant construct began barreling forwards, each pounding step a tremor.

Flames suddenly wreathed the entire construct, the incineration spell covering it in a scorching cloak. The golem didn't even flinch, but the conflagration was enough to jar her out from the shock.

"Fireball!" Louise shrieked, her wand jammed out towards the rapidly closing construct. Again her magic lanced out. Again a detonation rocked the courtyard as a boulder sized chunk of stone was blasted off the golem, its head reduced to a smoking crater. But the earth shaking charge never stopped, the golem never slowed, each hurtling step bringing it looming closer to her. Like an avalanche, the golem fell upon her, its flaming foot streaking down towards her. She tried to get out another spell, the syllables forming on her lips even as her mind screamed that it was too late.

And then she was out of time.

There was a white blur, an impact to her knees that made her collapse on all fours.

The foot came down with a thunderous crack.

Louise watched it happen from a rapidly increasing distance. For one brief, horrible moment, she thought herself dead, that her soul was being snatched away to the afterlife. But then the moment passed, and she found herself riding atop a familiar white maned back.

"Shiranui!"

The wolf chuffed, legs a blur as her familiar changed directions, racing across the courtyard and away from the golems thundering charge. Relief flooding her, she would have squeezed her familiar in a hug had her arms not already been wrapped around the wolf's back. But the constant booming seized her attention, Louise craning her head back to chance a look. Despite being wreathed in flames, the golem was racing after them.

And despite the swiftness of her familiar's pace, closing rapidly.

"Go faster!" She screamed, willing her wand hand to loosen its grip on the wolf so she could get a spell off.

The words had barely left her mouth when she realized the direction of her familiars run. They were headed straight for the Academy walls. In response to her shrieked demands, the wolf tensed beneath her... and then accelerated. The air practically howled in her ears, whipping winds tearing at her eyes as they screamed towards the walls, so fast that she could see the individual brickwork in a heartbeat. Louise gulped, all thoughts of spellcasting abruptly ended as she divined her familiars intent. She clutched the wolf even tighter, burying her face into its back.

Abruptly the world twisted again as the familiar leaped, and she was suddenly filled with a sense of churning vertigo. The walls of the Academy shot past her nose, her stomach first slamming against her ribs, then trying to fall away from her body as they ascended. Louise felt her dinner climb up her throat, threatening to make a bid for freedom. But despite the sudden nausea, the stomach churning vertigo, she was acutely aware of the staccato thunderclaps growing deafeningly close.

And then the walls were gone, the loping gait of the wolf's dash ceasing as they ran out of wall to dig into. They shot into the air, tracing an aerial arc by momentum alone. For one heart stopping moment, as the world turned upside down, Louise glimpsed the no longer burning golem below her, barreling through the space they had occupied a moment before.

And then it struck the academy walls.

A roar like a thousand avalanches shook Louise to the very bone, the sound itself a literal blow that flattened her against her familiars back as the golem smashed through the masonry as if it were no stronger than paper. The wall exploded outwards, chunks of masonry larger than her sent flying from the impact to spray the surrounding area. Smaller chunks flew upwards, a hail of shattered stonework hissing spitefully past them as the golem barreled on past below them.

Louise felt the air whipping about her, the sudden sense of familiarity striking her conscious thoughts as their ascent slowed and began to plummet into the crumbling remains of the outer walls. Impossibly, her familiar twisted in mid-air, sharply righting itself and angling its feet to touch upon one of the larger blocks, the sound of wolf claws upon stone incongruously loud to her ears amidst the roar of collapsing wall.

They took off like a shot, her stomach lurching behind as they streaked upwards towards the golem.

Collapsing debris blocked their path, shattered stonework still falling to meet their ascent in a storm. But as they rose, a piece of masonry larger than a cart tore free, falling down towards them. Louise opened her mouth, it was all the time she had to try and shriek in alarm before her familiar twisted in mid air again, her vision spinning upside down as its feet touched the brick, tensed... and leaped in the direction of another chunk of falling stone, going even faster than before. Her abused stomach screamed in protest, bouncing against her spine as they sped upwards through the chaotic storm in a blur of movement.

They passed through the avalanche in a blur of movement, the final leap sending them streaking into the night sky. Louise had only a second to realize that Fouquet was below them again, the distance between golem and wolf closing as their leap arced downwards to its shoulders.

They landed upon the construct with a skitter of claws on stone, the impact jarring enough to rattle her bones.

Fouquet reacted before Louise could recover, rock flowing like liquid as the reformed head of the golem twisted in place to stare at them with pustule like protrusions for eyes.

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me." The thief complained in a normal voice, his words no longer amplified like before. "Did you sprout wings when I wasn't looking? Go away before you get hurt."

She should have pulled out her wand then, called upon her magic to blast the construct away the golem and bring the thief to justice. She should have.

Her stomach, much abused and finally in full rebellion, decided for her first.

Louise turned over to the side, noisily disgorging the remainder of that nights dinner onto the golems face. She didn't know how long it went on, or how she managed to stay clutched onto her wolf, but she didn't care. The only sound she heard, aside from her own sickness, was the disquieted whine of her familiar.

"Out of all the things you could possibly have done," Fouquet said in the sudden silence once Louise had stopped, the golem having ground to a halt as she was busy losing her dinner, "That was certainly the most disgusting I've ever seen, even behind a golem's senses. Ineffective, but still the most disgusting."

"Now, since you were so kind as to volunteer." Louise started at the words, immediately going for her wand as she remembered who she was facing and what it meant. But the attempt went only as far as a short lived pull on her limbs that refused to move. A growl from Shiranui alerted her to the state of things, and with belated horror, she realized both her hands and the legs of her familiar were bound in the stone skin of the golem. She jerked at her hands, but the manacles they were in didn't budge. "You're going to be my insurance for a little while."

'_Oh no. Oh no no no!' _She thought frantically, trying to come up with something, anything to get out of this mess she found herself in. Her wand was still in her hand, trapped by the same manacles that kept them from moving, for all the good that did. She couldn't get off a spell like this. Her fingers were immobilized, she couldn't aim. The angle was wrong, they were too close to... to everything. Louise had never tried to use her miscast magic on anyone before and had no intention of being the first one to find out what would happen.

The golem's head rotated again, eyes pointing towards the sky where a dark shape flapped uncertainly. _'Not like this! This isn't supposed to happen!'_

"CHILDREN." The thief called out, his voice booming once more. "YOU MIGHT WANT TO WATCH YOUR AIM A LITTLE, OR THE BRAT-"

Shiranui huffed.

This time, Louise could feel the world jarring, a sharp pressure that lasted forever and no time all at once. The instant passed.

The stony manacles shattered into dust.

She didn't know how it was accomplished, didn't even know if the dawning suspicion in her mind was anything close to the truth. She wasted no time dwelling on it, only focusing on the bare fact that she was free. And Fouquet was distracted. Her wand hand snapped out from underneath Shiranui, the focii levelled at her target. Her willpower pulsed.

"Fireball!"

Her aim was different this time. Not towards the golems head, which she'd wasted her first spell to little effect, but lower. The head still vanished in the ensuing detonation, a crater blasted out of the constructs chest and cutting off the thief mid sentence. A sudden silence fell on the battlefield as the smoke from her spell thinned. Louise kept her wand out, uncertain if she had stopped Fouquet. The thief had to be there, somewhere in the center of the golem, where she had directed her magic. But...

Her wolf growled.

It was all the warning she had.

Her familiar moved, the acceleration so quick, so sudden that Louise couldn't even begin to get a spell off before she was clutching on for dear life. Cracks like musket fire sounded behind an instant later, gaining in tempo and intensity until they drowned out everything else. Before she could turn around, spikes erupted from the golems shoulder in front of them, cutting off their escape. More appeared on their sides, behind them, a wall of spears cutting off their escape. Amidst the crackle of reshaping stone, she felt the tremors through her familiar, the sharp crack of spikes breaking free directly underneath them. The wolf tensed. Louise gulped.

They leaped straight up.

The spikes chased them, shooting upwards with frightening speed. But they were faster still, their ascent increasing the distance away from certain death. As their flight began to slow, the wolf flipped again, turning in the air until they bore straight down on the golem. Louise saw the spiked shoulder awaiting them down below. But Fouquet wasn't willing to wait. The crackle of musket fire sounded, and suddenly the spikes tore free from the golem, launching upwards towards them in a hail of death. She snapped out a her wand, screaming her defiance and fear.

"Fireball!"

Her familiar snarled.

The world shuddered once more, familiar, yet different. No pressure touched on her. No sensation. Only the afterimages of jagged lines interposed against the world.

Her spell detonated against the golems chest, magically infused rock exploding outwards in a spray of stone.

And then the storm broke.

Lightning streaked down from the skies. A dozen bolts of heavenly fury bracketing them before the terrible, unforgiving light filled her sight. A roar unlike any other raged in her ears, drowning all other sound. Blinded by the flash of light, she felt rather than saw stone pulverizing beneath the onslaught, airborne spikes disintegrating before the ravening storm, the crackling waves of heat as the golems stone flesh boiled and melted away. The smell of ozone filled the air, and her hair stood on end.

The wolf moved again, her only sign the now familiar lurch of her stomach screaming in protest at the sudden shift. A thunderclap boomed, the explosion of sound so close that she cried out at the ringing pain it left in her ears. But no other sound chased them, no more shifts in the whistling air that left her stomach crying in protest or musket cracks of spikes being launched them.

They landed lightly on the grounds, the impact far less jarring than the one on the golem had been. Louise blinked rapidly, her light blindness fading away into spots of darkness as the ringing pain subsided. She craned her head, looking back to where the golem must have stood. She blinked again, trying not to, but unable to keep her jaw from dropping.

The golem still stood, a building sized construct of earth in the shape of a man with arms extended. Its palms were clasped together in a parody of a man smashing a bothersome insect with his hands. Save that the palms were large enough to crush a wagon, and the insect would have been them had they been a fraction of a second slower. But it didn't move to press any attack, the reason blatantly obvious.

Its head was gone, a gaping hole blown into its chest wide enough for a grown man to pass through without touching either side. Molten stone glowed red hot, the fiery liquid oozing from the wounds on its body, its burning colour eerily like blood. Even as she gaped, thick spatters of burning rock fell down to the plains below, the terrible heat setting the grass alight in flashes of smoke and fire.

"Did..." she managed uncertainly, the world starting to slow down now that they were no longer dashing about, "did that do it?"

Long seconds passed by as nothing happened. And then a shuddering groan rolled throughout the plains, deep cracks starting to wend down the golem's body wherever the molten rock flowed. Chunks of stone began to crack, falling away from the body to crumble on the ground below. Louise let out a sigh of relief at the sight, letting her face sink into the soft fur of her familiar's back. A tiny smile began to creep it's way up her lips as the enormity of what had happened struck her.

"I... we," she began to murmur, pausing only to correct herself. She couldn't deny the truth here anymore than she could deny herself. "_We_ did it. We did it Shiranui."

A brief, hysterical giggle escaped her throat, eliciting a curious whine from her familiar. Louise just hugged her familiar tighter, rubbing her face against the wolf's neck. "We're alive, and we beat Fouquet." She could scarcely believe it herself. The notorious thief, scourge of Brimir's faithful who had bested countless mage-knights sent to bring him in, had finally been defeated. For a moment, she wondered idly why none of the teachers had shown up to help. The battle had not been particularly quiet.

She cracked open an eye, rotating her head until she could see the sky and the flying shape beginning to swoop down towards them. The taller of the two figures astride it waved. She laughed softly, but didn't move to reply in kind. Fouquet defeated, but certainly not by that Germanian lush. Or for that matter, none of the teachers either. For all that vaunted fire magic she could throw about, it hadn't even put a dent in the golem. No. That particular honour and the greater honour of destroying it, fell to none other than little Louise and her familiar. Her _most_ unusual familiar.

Louise closed her eyes again, feeling the fatigue seep through her arms and legs. Founder above, she was tired. It couldn't have been that long, could it? It felt like a lifetime since she stumbled into the courtyard. But even the euphoria of her first victory and accompanying fatigue couldn't dampen her curiosity.

"That was you, wasn't it?" She murmured to the wolf, "that-"

An ear splitting crack jerked Louise out of her reverie, the pinkette snapping her head upwards towards the golem.

'_No. No no no. No way! That's just not possible!'_

The molten rock dripping down its body had cooled to an ebony shade, lit by sullen red veins. A jagged scar ran down the central mass, fresh rock flowing out from inside, forcing the molten mass apart until with a final shuddering groan, the entire mass exploded outwards in a spray of hissing stone flakes.

Singed, bedraggled, cloak smoking in places where the fires had clearly set the fabric alight, Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt climbed out atop the crater that had been blasted into his golem's body. Putty-like rock flowed about the thief's boots, undoing the damage that had been done only moments before, but far more sluggish than she remembered it doing. The thief jabbed a finger in her direction, the motion mirrored by the golem, its arm still shedding flakes of stone. His voice, magically enhanced, boomed across the plains.

"NOW, NOW YOU'VE SERIOUSLY ANNOYED ME."

* * *

><p>Standing in the middle of the ruins of her burning golem, Fouquet was more than a little annoyed. Her cloak was a burned out mess, and fire protection wards woven into the fabric or not, she wasn't all that much better than the ruined garment. Her face, and a few other places on her body at that, stung in the way that demanded an appointment with some soothing burn cream before long. Not to mention all the acrid smoke stinging her eyes and gumming her lungs that the wards did nothing to protect against. At least she was alive to complain about it, her injuries mostly superficial. And the Staff of Destruction remained unharmed of course, the protective casing it sat having weathered the storm remarkably well. But that was a poor consolation in the light of things.<p>

For all her preparations and contingencies, including the possibility that a handful of the more competent teachers might have avoided her surprise spread out in the Academy mage-lights, she hadn't expected an outcome this bad.

This was supposed to be the _least _painful option, damn it!

Her golem was badly mauled, very nearly falling apart, and needed a fresh infusion of magic before she'd be safely ensconced beneath a few inches of solid rock inside its chest. And that wasn't even counting the amount of repairs she'd need to enact before it was able to walk again without collapsing into a heap of rubble. She wasn't depleted of willpower, not yet, but she was starting to feel the strain. She hadn't pushed to the edge like this since... since never.

Not by a stubborn brat who didn't know when to stay down. Where was the runt getting all that magical proficiency anyway? She recognized the student easily enough. Louise de la Valliere, commonly known as the Zero amongst the student body and widely regarded as a failure at magic.

What a load of dragon dung if you asked her.

For what was supposed to be failed magic, those explosions of hers had been accursedly effective at tearing out uncomfortably large chunks of her golem, almost as bad as cannon fire. And that lightning magic just now was nothing anyone short of a triangle class should be capable of. If the brat had been faking her magical ineptitude all this while, she couldn't have picked a worst time to drop the masquerade. But that wasn't the worst of it.

No one. **NO ONE **could have done that- to leap the height of a building as if wings weren't even necessary, and then to suddenly and sharply veer off in different directions without so much as a twitch of warning. Winged creatures couldn't do that. _Levitation _magic couldn't do that. She'd never even heard of a spell that hinted at the possibility of accomplishing that. It had to be the brat somehow, she refused to believe the wolf she was riding like a miniature war horse was somehow responsible, but she couldn't even figure out how that was achieved. For that matter, she wasn't sure how the student had broken free either. She'd definitely heard no aria then.

Damnit, things were getting far too strange for her to deal with. But no need to panic yet. She still had control of the situation.

Fouquet wasn't a killer, not by preference, but there was no help for it. She had enough willpower left for the job, and if she was going to get out of here, preferably without any further delays, the kid just had to go.

The two on the dragon, she could handle easily enough on her own. According to the headmaster's files Kirche Von Zerbst wasn't anything to scoff at as a fire mage of that level, and neither was her ice mage friend Tabitha, but her golem could shrug off anything they threw at it. _Before _it had been so rudely blasted apart by yet another student. She was all too aware how exposed she was right now.

Right on cue, the dragon riding redhead flung a bolt of fire at her.

Only to splash harmlessly against the golems arm, Fouquet having already predicted the attack beforehand. An ice spear slipped past the arm, but shattered against the part of the reforming chest. She tsked in annoyance. Easily handled, but no less an annoyance with her in this state. Better hurry up with the repairs then, she thought grimly. She pumped more willpower into the golem, thick walls of clay growing around her just as another firebolt arced over the protective arm. It came close, but the cocoon sealed before first, the projectile slamming into the outer walls with enough force to make them ring.

Chanting a quick spell, eyes budded on the reforming head of the golem, giving back her view of the outside world.

Despite the mess of things they'd made, there still seemed to be no response from the Academy, good. That meant her contingency was working. The two students on the dragon were keeping a safe distance, pelting her golem with a mixture of ice and fire spells. But their attacks were getting more sporadic, and nothing on the scale of the incinerate spell used earlier. Either they were getting smart and conserving their willpower for her to reveal a weakness, which wasn't going to happen, or they were running low. Both suited her fine.

The real problem was the Valliere brat and her wolf, but when she turned her attention to them, she found the pair refraining from the attack. At least the wolf wasn't, cautiously circling around her and well out of reach. The rider had her wand pointed out, but from the lack of spells, failed or otherwise, and the way it shook told Fouqeut that whatever reserves of both willpower and endurance the stubborn brat still had, they were running on the ragged edge of total depletion.

Hers on the other hand, was still sufficient for a trick or two.

Better and better. Now if she could just make that obvious-

"Surrender Fouquet! You cannot possibly escape us!"

"Oh you can't possibly be serious." She muttered aloud, letting her magic carry her voice across the plains. Much more subtly, a separate thread of magic ran through her golem. She had to give credit, the brat was tenacious. But... "That old line? Really? You ought to be ashamed for using something so cliched little girl. Did you get all your lines out of some two ecu heroes tale?"

Rather than reply or just fling a spell, the girl sputtered, her face turning a bright shade of red. Good. Fouquet flexed her fingers, the golem mirroring her actions as the final layer of its protective clay skin fell into place. "Well let me tell you how this tale is going to end." She announced theatrically, casually ignoring another bolt of fire that struck the golems eye to no effect. "It ends with me walking away, and you all out of willpower. Alive too, if you're clever enough not to press your luck."

"What?" The girl shrieked, the wand in her hand shaking even more violently, though more out of anger than fatigue. "Your threats won't work on me! For the crimes you've committed this day, you will be brought to justice!"

Fouquet sighed loudly, "what a shame, and here I thought you were-" and threw her surprise mid-word.

It should have been the perfect surprise. She'd gotten the girl too angry and focused on her words to pay proper attention to what was going on. Under her direct control, her golem could throw a fair sized boulder at speeds to match crossbow bolts. The earth spear she had was lighter, and much, much faster. It could easily punch through a castle wall, much less whatever protective enchantments the brat could put up. And at this distance, there wouldn't even be time to blink.

There was an earsplitting crack, followed by the crunch of her spear hitting its... no.

The spear, a pillar of stone dozens of paces long and two across, had been _split in half_.

In. Half.

Right down the middle.

Both halves had somehow veered off course, embedding themselves in the ground on either side of the Valliere brat, leaving her entirely unharmed.

Oh that was simply _unfair!_

She didn't waste any time complaining about it though, much. She put her golem into motion, letting her willpower flow into the construct. If at first you fail, you can be not the idiot who tries the same thing again hoping for a different result.

Except as a distraction of course.

* * *

><p>She should be dead.<p>

By all rights, Louise de la Valliere should have been a corpse, crushed into unrecognizable paste during a careless moment in the heat of a battle. One instant, she had been suffused with righteous fury at the audaciousness of the thief, the next a massive pillar had been thrown at her face. The evidence was all around her, the torn earth, the clay pillar that was embedded into the ground by the force that had thrown it. It was a lesson that should have extracted a fatal price.

Except she wasn't dead.

The pillar... the pillar _halves_, were on either side of her, the clay cracking and crumbling to dust as the magic that suffused them faded away. Something had cut them in half before they could reach her, with enough force to shear them apart at the last instance.

She couldn't even begin to explain it. Only that however it happened, she was alive.

Shiranui growled, the sound cutting through her shock like a blade.

Alive, yes. For now.

Ahead, Fouquet's golem began running, its hands sprouting a pair of spears wider than her.

She didn't need to think about her next move, by now it was practically instinct. She immediately ducked low, hugging her wolf tight with both legs and her free hand. In that instant the golem flung the spears. Both missiles screamed towards them, growing impossibly large in a heartbeat. She tensed, knowing what was going to happen.

She screamed anyway, as they leaped straight towards the spears. The wolf twisted in the air, avoiding the tip of the spear, it's feet touching the surface of the clay construct only for an instant. Spikes immediately erupted from underneath them, jagged daggers slicing through the air towards her. But the wolf was quicker still, bouncing off the spear before any of them left a mark. The second spear hissed by, blocking their trajectory, its barb festooned surface so close she could feel the air displaced by its passage.

She saw it then.

A third spear.

And there was nowhere to go.

The wolf shifted. Moved. _Something_. Her mind refused to define it. They curved around the spear, a whirling, spiralling motion that turned her vision into a blurred mosaic.

Three thunderous cracks sounded behind her, so close to one another they might have been a single sound, her mind barely registering the impacts until the world stopped spinning. Her sight cleared only a moment later while they were falling, focusing to reveal the golem standing before them. Something was wrong with it, a tiny voice whispered in her head. Something was off. But she didn't have time to capture the thought. They landed at a dead run, rapidly closing the distance with the golem as she raised her wand, a spell on her lips.

The golem raised its hands. Shiranui skidded to a halt.

She realized then what was wrong.

Those weren't hands. Or even anything remotely resembling them.

They were massive hammers.

"GOODBYE CHILDREN"

The hammers came down, striking the ground.

The earth exploded.

* * *

><p>Tsunami.<p>

Not of water, but of earth, soil and mud, a construction of _chi_ unlike any she had seen before. A wave of scouring destruction as tall as the shikigami they fought. A moment's chagrin seized her thoughts, her charge faltering in realization of the cunning of the foe they faced. The spears had been a misdirection, to distract as the tsunami was unleashed. The spirit user was skilled, dangerous, more so than she had first thought. Twice now, the child and she had brushed against the edge, the foe continuing to surprise with a tenacity she had not met in many a mortal. And now this.

But there was a desperation in the actions of their foe, a finality in them that had not been there before now. She seized upon her will, bending it to the sharpest blade. Ever finer she honed its edge, until even the hardest of stone would part before its passing. If she could surpass this attack-

She focused her will, unleashing the might of her heritage upon the tsunami.

The tide of _chi_ parted before her blade, but her heart sank in realization of the tsunami's true nature. No sooner had she parted the tide than it closed ranks once more, new soil torn from the earth to feed the approaching wave. The wellspring of her strength was not without limit, her works in this land incomplete, and the battle had already drained her deeper than she had first thought. She could but call upon the fury of the heavens once more, but it would not be enough. She could not stop the tsunami.

She would survive the coming tide. Even were the wave to sweep her away, her treasures would sustain her existence. But the child... the child would not.

Unless... no. She would not. Could not. To do so in her wrath would taint the instruments.

She wheeled about, darting away from the wave as she carried the child with her.

Above, the shadowed forms of the child's fellow students shouted their concerns, the cry of the dragon child they rode adding to their calls. She ran, her feet swiftly traversing the land as they fled, but it was not enough. With growing speed, the roaring tide began to close the distance, the child cried in fear as she turned back to see their doom.

But aid arrived before it could reach them.

"Louise! Over here!" She saw them approach, born by the dragon child as they swooped low past the tide. The one with the mane of autumn held out a hand, reaching for the child. "Grab on!"

She felt hope flare within her, angling her path so that the child could be born to safety.

It was not to be.

"Look out!"

The child's cry of alarm mingled with her warning growl, yet it was not enough. The dragon child understood, her flight changing, but the spear of _chi _was too quick, its appearance too sudden. Only her movement at the last instant prevented the spear from transfixing her, yet even the glancing blow tore through her scaled flanks with a spray of life fluid, the dragon's shriek of pain carving into her heart. Her wings and limbs flailed in pain, control of flight lost as serpent and riders crashed to the ground, their bodies rolling with the impact.

"Kirche! Tabitha!"

'_Irukukwu_.'

Ignoring the startled cry of her child, she halted her swift flight, turning away from the fallen bodies of the riders. From the wounded dragon child who had so easily befriended her. They would not be able to flee the coming wave anymore, none of them could.

She faced the tsunami, a tide of swollen _chi_ that would sweep all before it, but did not see it. She saw beyond the coming tides, beyond the surface of the shikigami and into its heart, where the spirit user who fought them dwelled.

She saw her only choice.

The astral realms parted before her demand, the treasures she had safeguarded for so long within her inner self responding to the summons. It took form before her, an instrument of Raijin's realm, crackling with his power.

She took it upon herself, demanding its presence as was her birthright. It acquiesced before the call, the essence of storms joining with hers. The child cried out in fright and wonder, unable to understand. She heard the fear, felt the child try to shelter within her fur even as they were wreathed in the power of Thunder Edge. A part of her wished to soothe the child, to help her comprehend the changes that were happening, but there was no time.

She gripped the blade with both teeth and divinity, focusing her will through the Divine Instrument. She was the guardian and mother to all. She was the light of the world.

And she would end this battle now.

* * *

><p>Kirche remembered hitting the ground, Fouquet's spear having brought down Tabitha's familiar. As crash landings went, it wasn't too bad. Subjectively. She'd ended up rolling with the fall, finally coming to a stop belly down with a face full of dirt and a view of the massive earth wave the thief had set off.<p>

But she didn't remember hitting her head.

She had to, because it had to be a hallucination she was seeing. Louise's familiar was standing in front of them all, an iridescent golden sword inexplicably clutched in its teeth. A sword that was longer than the wolf. Lightning was running all over the ludicrously large weapon, forks of the magical energy sparking and shooting out in every direction, including at the wolf. Yet neither the familiar nor Louise seemed to be affected by the storm, the coruscating arcs of lightning wreathing their forms but doing no harm. Before she could even ponder Louise's sudden lightning immunity, the storm of magical energy thickened, creating an impermeable shell of persistent lightning, concealing both master and familiar from view.

And that was all the time she had for observation.

The mass of lightning jumped into the air and... Kirche tried to track its motion, but it was too fast, too sudden. One moment it was there, the next it was gone. Only the fading trail of lightning it left behind marked its passage. A trio of detonations cracked in the air, so quick the thunderous explosions nearly merged into one sound.

A hole appeared in the incoming earth wave, right where the streaks of lightning had passed through, leaving behind a storm of lightning arcing throughout the roaring tide. A ripple ran throughout the enchanted earth, so quick she thought she had imagined it. The wave exploded, the blast so strong it nearly picked up Kirche from the ground and threw her backwards. She squinted through the howling winds, trying to keep track of the battle. Another thundercrack detonation erupted nearby, pointing her in the right direction.

The tidal wave had been blasted apart, a wide valley where there had once been a solid wall of roiling dirt. The remaining portions of the wave continued on away from them, yet the trailing edges slackened, as if the magic that drove it was unravelling.

Behind the tidal wave, Fouquet's golem was... gone.

Most of it.

The construct tottered on a pair of blasted and blackened legs like a drunk. It's head and arms were gone, as was most of its upper torso. Only the hips and a portion of the lower torso remained to hold its legs together. And far above the golem, Kirche could make out the forms of Louise and her familiar, now bereft of the lightning spitting sword.

Falling like a star.

* * *

><p>She, they, were falling. Falling from a height that should have scared her to death.<p>

Minutes ago, it would have.

And yet, she didn't feel any fear. She was numbed to the sensation. Nothing could compare to what she had felt, lived through. The memory of magic, the fear of being shrouded by lightning. Of _being _the lightning. The sensation of speed, unlike anything before. Bursting through the wave of earth and stone. The crackle of magic so powerful she could smell it in the air. Separating from that power. She couldn't explain it, couldn't even begin to describe what had happened. Only, that whatever came next, no matter what transpired, nothing could even come close.

They landed, the wolf lightly touching upon the ground despite the height and speed which they had fallen. Fouquet's golem was standing there, what was left of it. Only its legs and a little of its chest remained, the rest blasted to oblivion. Yet instead of crumbling to the ground, the construct tottered drunkenly, obviously still under the power of its master.

Shiranui craned her head, meeting Louise's gaze and growled softly. To her tired ears, it didn't sound angry but instead, expectant somehow. There was a chuff, an affirmative sound that cut through her numbness, the wolfs request clear.

In another time, she would have objected at the audacity of her familiar behaving so.

But that was another life.

She raised her wand with shaking fingers, channeling her willpower into a spell as she aimed the focus.

"Fireball."

A detonation rocked the fields, a final blast that tore away at the ankle of the golem carcass. Clay and stone crumbled, cracks running all the way up the golem's leg as its support suddenly vanished. Slowly, but with increasing speed, the remnants of the construct began to topple over, its body already collapsing as it smashed into the fields with a resounding thud. Louise watched it crumble, unable to feel a sense of pride at her accomplishment like before, only a bone deep weariness.

Yet for the longest while, she stared at the inert mass of shattered stone, unwilling to move, but also unwilling to stand down.

A creak of stone against stone reached their ears, the golem's clay body settling into the ground.

And then, a muffled groan.

Shiranui huffed, loping forward towards the ruined construct with Louise still on her back. After everything, she wasn't inclined to dismount from the wolf. Not yet.

They found Fouquet, the thief crawling weakly out from under a pile of debris. The hood that had concealed the thief's face had been torn, revealing a mop of green hair and a familiar, albeit battered, face. Louise felt a faint trickle of surprise as she matched the face to a name, but it wasn't enough to distract her from seeing what the thief was reaching for.

Her familiar bounded forward, landing on the wand and snapping the focus in half with her paws before Fouquet could close her hands around it. Louise pointed her wand at the thief before she could do anything further. The woman froze as Louise tried to to put on an officious expression, but only managing a wan look.

"Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt. For your many crimes against the nobility and the crown, I place you under arrest."

It was what she wanted to say. It was what she should have said. Her stomach, after so much abuse, found what little remained of her dinner and made the choice of speaking for her instead.

And this time there was no golem to shield Fouquet.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: This took a little longer than I thought it would, but I hope you all found it enjoyable. The battle certainly took a lot longer than I thought it would though. Initially, it was only supposed to be about half the chapter, and then I thought about how it just wouldn't do. Fouquet's a competent thief and combatant after all, and needs to be able to demonstrate it. Now, some of you asked about the flowers sprouting wherever Ammy walked, and I'm going to have to put that one on hold, at least until her power is increased further. Besides, it would be too noticeable at the outset.

**Wrathe Winsre**

Will Ammy get power from worship too besides the flowers blooming and all?

_Ammy gets power from anything and everything that lives. It's just that the more complex the creature (humans), the more power she gets from belief/worship/positive feelings.  
><em>

**Zero-Nightmare**

The dream sequence, was Louise somehow chanelling ammy's memories?

_Not quite... you might want to reread Ammy's POV on the immediate aftermath for just exactly what went on.  
><em>


	6. Chapter 06

_Disclaimer: The great goddess Amaterasu doesn't recognize anyone's claims of ownership of her very being but her own. So there. Nyeh._

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 06**

"_And as the Founder's gift of magic was blessed upon the anointed, so too did the creatures of the land sup of his bounty, becoming lesser imitations of his true inheritors." _- Bishop Lestrande, Treatises on Magic, Page 13 chapter III

* * *

><p>Shiranui watched the assailant, the one who had dared to try and harm her child, who had harmed her adoptive sister, and knew anger.<p>

She watched, feelings of vengeance baying within her, demanding that she place the final judgment upon the defeated mortal who had wronged them so. To end a life and end the threat that she posed forever.

Her fangs were bared, her displeasure known to all who could see and hear.

She watched, and did nothing.

This... this was not hers to act upon. The emotions that touched upon her mind were a ghostly echo of the chosen form, yet they rang against her being, stronger than any time before. She resisted their call, it was not hers to answer. She was the guardian, the light and mother. She had safeguarded the child from the one who would bring her harm, ended the battle as was necessary. This was her duty, her right. To do more would be to transgress against the laws of old and she would not break them.

A snarl escaped her throat as the spirit user rose to look upon her captors, the sound coming unbidden despite her will.

"Don't move!" the child upon her back commanded, taking her unbidden snarl as a wordless warning. Defeated, the weaver watches the implement of magic in the child's hands and obeys the sign of strength.

For her, it is a reminder, a ward against the emotions that suffuse her being. The snarl ends, her anger subdued as she simply stretches her awareness to the child. It is the child's time now, her and those the other children who would soon arrive to decide the fate of the assailant. And as her ire ebbs, There is a moment of pride, a familiar joy she feels for the child who had called out to her.

_'She has grown well.'_

An ear flicks as she recognizes the accomplishment. It is but a single step, the first choice to persevere against the trials that will certainly lie upon their joined paths. But it is no less important for the seeds she has sown, the courage she has mustered. In time, she mused, the child could grow to the purity of purpose she desires, one to cleanse the doubts and fears that plague her.

But she is weary as well, the cost of battle heavy upon her untested shoulders. It will not be long before it's toll can no longer be ignored. There is weariness in the weaver's scent, bitter defeat and resignation as she accepts her situation. Yet if the child should succumb and fall now, there was little doubt in her mind that the one who had harmed them so would seek to escape.

It is a concern that does not hold her for long, familiar scents and sounds reminding her that they are not alone.

She flicks her tail archly, a private chastisement as she recognizes those who now only begin their approach. It is a shared sentiment with the child who weighs her own frustrations with whispered words.

"Why couldn't they have shown up earlier?"

* * *

><p>Not all that far away, Kirche would not have been surprised to know that her rival's sentiments were the same as hers, if she'd been paying attention. Between her scrapes and the far more serious injuries inflicted on her best friend's familiar, she'd scarcely paid her rival any heed once the battle was over and the thief thoroughly subdued. Foquet's parting shot had only grazed the dragon, but it had torn up a lot of scales and drawn a fair amount of blood in the process. It had left an ugly gash running down the dragon's flank almost as wide as her arm, though thankfully shallow enough that it hadn't pierced anything vital.<p>

"Well, that's all the fragments out, the rest will need a healer," she announced, stepping back as her friend sealed the wound with a patch of ice. The dragon growled in pain, though it didn't thrash. "It'll have to do for now. Luckily it's not as bad as it looks."

The dragon in question affixed Kirche with a displeased look and warbled something that might have meant "speak for yourself". The Germanian grinned, putting on her most motherly expression as she said, "Aw, don't be such a big baby Sylphid, it's just a scratch."

She might have continued teasing the dragon, but a sudden outburst from Louise caught her attention. But before she could catch more than an angry word or two, one of the teachers walked in front of her, demanding to know what was going on because the Valliere child must be having a joke on them, accusing Miss Longueville of being-

Ah.

Sorting out that particular confusion lasted a few amusing minutes. With the both of them backing up Louise's claim however, it was quickly resolved, though they would have to explain things to the headmaster.

Giving time at last for her to think about what she'd seen earlier, and every impossible thing in it. Oh, she knew that her favorite tease had proven instrumental in taking down Foquet, she wasn't going to deny that. But the hows were a little more hard to swallow.

Only a few hours ago, Kirche would have joked that Louise's affinity was with the lost element of failure, her familiar notwithstanding. But that had been before the battle with Foquet and the copious amounts of wind magic that had gotten thrown around. It had been tempting to make the obvious conclusions from what she had seen, even if her past experience spoke against it. Very tempting. She'd nearly dropped her wand out of shock at the sight of the first lightning bolt.

But as the battle drew down and the teachers showed up, giving her time to think about it, she realized those conclusions were wrong. Louise as a triangle, maybe even square class wind mage? It boggled the mind. Besides, from the snatches of the aria she had heard, the pinkette had been trying to cast fireballs, not lightning. And failing spectacularly as she usually did, if a bit more effectively than was customary.

That meant someone or something else had been responsible for throwing the lightning. With Louise already out of the consideration, there were precious few explanations for those spells, and most of them simply didn't fit with what she knew. One of the teachers or students? An outsider mage? Too obvious, and there really hadn't been anywhere to hide out in the plains once Foquet had broken out. Some hidden magical artifact Louise had managed to pick up somewhere? A tiny avaricious smile ran up her lips before she dropped the idea as a little too far fetched. Give her that much magic, and the poor dear would probably have turned half the Academy grounds to rubble from sheer enthusiasm before the day was out.

Besides, there was a much more plausible explanation for everything she had seen. Normal wolves certainly didn't run up walls, make hundred span leaps, suddenly change direction mid-air like hummingbirds, nor did they absorb wall crushing blows with nary an injury to show for it. Throwing the ability to cast spells on top of that was merely icing. And a spell it had to be. Oh there were certainly creatures with powerful elemental breath weapons, but that required the element usually being breathed out through the creature's mouth or nostrils.

As opposed to raining down from the skies like the fist of an angry spirit.

A magical familiar was one thing. Bugbears, some types of dragons, even her magnificent Flame were magical creatures after all. But a magical creature who could cast spells, much less match a square class mage at that, why the closest thing would have been the rhyme dragons and those were extinct. Which meant Shiranui was something never encountered before. Something different she realized, little pieces of the puzzle starting to fall into place, suggesting possibilities she'd never considered before.

And that sword... oooh.

She had been planning on waiting until after things had settled down a little, the tiny tempest had earned a bit of a respite after all, but she couldn't put it off anymore. With a backwards glance to make sure Tabitha and her dragon were being attended to by a healer, she strode off towards Louise. The battle with Foquet had proven to be an adequate distraction for the night, but she had come to find answers to a mystery and here she was, presented with yet another tantalizing mystery.

With any luck, she might even get answers to both of them.

* * *

><p>There were teachers talking, some muttering to themselves, others were giving instructions. More than a few were in a state of near panic as they took in the devastated grounds. Most just wandered about aimlessly, poking things at random and making pithy comments.<p>

Louise heard their words, but they were just meaningless sound to her. None of them were talking to her anyway. She had done her part, Foquet was now in custody, and the teachers could handle the aftermath. It wasn't over yet of course. She still had to answer questions and speak to the headmaster before too long. But for now, she just watched it all go by without much care. Somewhere along the way, after the initial demand for answers from disbelieving teachers, she had somehow slid off her wolf. Now instead of sitting atop her familiar, she was sitting on the ground, resting against the wolf's flank with its surprisingly fluffy tail curled around her.

Founder, she was tired. And she ached. Her thighs felt like they were afire, the world spun if she moved too quickly and if she thought too much about it, her stomach cramped up.

But... she was happy too, in a way.

Shiranui huffed softly as Louise leaned back, letting the moments pass with her eyes closed with only her thoughts for company.

A tired giggle escaped her lips.

No one could call her a Zero anymore. Not after tonight. So what if her spells had exploded instead of becoming fireballs like she had intended? They had worked far better than anything a fire mage like Kirche had been able to throw. Tonight, it had been her rival who was the failure, not her. Hah, let the Germanian chew on that for a while. And then there was her familiar...

_She saw the tide of roaring ring of rolling earth, despair and fear gripping her heart in equal measure. It was too fast, its reach too wide. Even with the incredible speeds her familiar was capable of running at, they couldn't outrun it, couldn't even avoid it. They were doomed. Her, Shiranui, Kirche and Tabitha, all of them. Despite giving her all, despite coming further than she had dreamed possible, she had still failed in the end. The realization slackened her grip, weakened her spine. But her familiar was snarling, hackles raised as the white wolf faced the coming tide._

_And then it was there._

_There was no warning, no grand display of magic. It simply was._

_Crackling arcs of lightning bathed its form, announced it's presence as barely contained energies sparking all along its edges. It bore the shape of a sword, but it transcended such concepts, a shining golden weapon that radiated terrible power and commanding majesty unlike anything she had ever dreamed possible. It was lightning given form, a storm made of otherworldly steel radiating a power beyond mortal grasp and comprehension. Arcs of power lashed out, striking the ground, the air, everywhere. Her hair stood on end, bathed in its deadly radiance, she wanted to scream._

_The storm intensified, enveloping them. Consuming them. She felt her body floating away, born aloft by power she could barely comprehend. The lightning took them, but did not destroy them. Instead they flew ahead, a singular purpose in their aim. They blazed a path across the skies. They were the tip of the spear._

_They were the lightning._

She opened her eyes, turning her head so that she could meet the golden gaze of her familiar.

Shiranui. Her beautiful, magical familiar. Everything that she had ever dared hope for on that day of the summoning and more. So much more that it was almost too much, and a little frightening.

"What are you Shiranui?" She whispered, her fingers stroking the wolf's tail. "What kind of wolf can throw magic like that?"

The wolf merely flicked an ear at her question, as if the question bore no weight at all. She hadn't thought much of it at first, not in the heat and confusion of battle. The lightning strikes had been to her benefit, and that was all that mattered then. But now, in the aftermath when she had the luxury of thinking about it, she knew there couldn't be anyone else. Not even Tabitha, the only human wind mage on the field at the time.

To think that she had stopped delving any deeper after that one ride her familiar had given her, assuming that it was some variation of a natural levitation magic and the extent of the wolf's abilities. What a fool she had been. Lightning was a triangle class spell, at least. But for it to be so concentrated, and powerful enough that it blasted and melted stone, that had to be the work of square class magic. And then there were the other things, things that existed on the border of perception so vague she couldn't even begin to recognize it as anything but a strange kind of magic. Magic her familiar had wielded with little effort and no less effectiveness.

A part of her crowed in triumph at the conclusion. Not even Tabitha's wind dragon or Kirche's fire salamander could compare to something like her Shiranui. But the other, much quieter part, worried. Power like that wouldn't, couldn't be found in something as simple as a mere animal. No mere animal would have the capacity for magic she had witnessed. Only the extinct rhyme dragons of legend were said to be as capable magically, and they were renowned for their intelligence, the equal to any human at least, if not greater. And none of their mythical number had ever been summoned, much less bound as a familiar, the common wisdom being that they were too intelligent, too powerful to submit.

If Shiranui was anything like that... what being of that power would deign to submit itself before a human mage, much less a mere failure like her?

As if sensing her disquiet, the wolf huffed loudly, tail brushing against her face and tickling her nose. For a moment, they locked gazes, neither one wavering as wolf and mistress traded understanding. And then Louise wrinkled her nose, ending the moment and pushing the tail away. But the troubled thoughts she had been having were fading as she allowed herself to relax once more.

Well... it wasn't as if Shiranui actually obeyed her all that much, she thought with wry humor. The wolf was far too free spirited to be a proper familiar, going wherever she pleased and always vanishing from her mistress's side on her own volition. Not to mention her lack of proper obedience when it came to not jumping off tall buildings against direct orders. It was strange how the realization didn't raise her ire the way it should have. If it had been anyone but Shiranui, she was sure she would have been livid at such disobedience. But then again, Shiranui had always been there for her when she needed it, and with the powers she commanded for her benefit, Louise could forgive a bit of free spirited independence.

Still...

"I suppose," she wondered aloud after a few more moments of contemplation, "that makes me a wind mage, doesn't it?"

If her wolf had a response to that, it was lost as she sharply shifted her gaze away, the focus of her attention striding awkwardly across the broken ground and bearing an all too familiar grin.

"Well Louise I suppose congratulations are in order," Kirche cheerfully announced, "you've managed to achieve quite the feat tonight," she paused for a moment, "alas, it seems your familiar had a much more impressive performance."

Louise sighed. "What do you want Kirche?"

"A never ending chocolate fountain, a hundred million ecu, and a paragon of a man amongst men to keep me company throughout the night," she replied instantly before arching an eyebrow. "But I'll settle for a few choice morsels tonight. Like your fine white wolf. She's certainly proven interesting enough to satisfy me."

"What do you-," Louise's eyes went wide as saucers as the words sank in and she remembered just who exactly she was talking to, "but- but Shiranui's a- you pervert!" Protectively spreading her arms wide, she shot her rival a defiant glare. "I'm not handing Shiranui over to your deviant fantasies!"

Silence fell. Even the babble of teachers went quiet. More than one questioning look was sent her way. Shiranui flicked an ear, tail curling into a questioning arch against Louise's chest. She flushed beet red.

Kirche simply smirked. "Oh my Louise, I merely wanted to ask some questions about your wolf. But for you to think something like that," she chuckled, "you were saying something about deviancy?"

"Shut up Kirche." She turned her nose away in obvious dismissal, the act spoiled only by the fact that her cheeks were so flushed that they had to be on the verge of bursting into flames. The only consolation was that none of the other teachers were paying heed anymore. "I'm not listening to anything you have to say, so go away."

The redhead simply tossed her hair back, "Oh, but I don't think your familiar would mind a few questions." Ignoring her sound of protest, Kirche crouched by Shiranui, hands rubbing across the wolf's forehead. "would you my fine white wolf?"

"Hmph! I'm not listening, and neither should you Shiranui." Louise cautioned, though she kept her face away from the Germanian, "she's just trying to corrupt you. Why, she's not even properly thankful that we saved her."

"Oh, but I am, I really am grateful. After all, were it not for your bravery at the last moment, we would not be here to talk about it. And for that, I am most grateful to you... my fine white wolf. And I suppose to you as well Louise," she added with a grin at the sudden glare. "But I'm also quite curious about how you did it Shiranui. It's not everyday one meets a magical wolf of your considerable prowess. Surely you wouldn't begrudge curious little me some honest questions?" She laughed as the wolf whined inquisitively at her, much to Louise's dismay, "that's a good girl."

Kirche tapped a finger against her lips and hummed, "You know Shiranui, I was going to ask about your little displays earlier first, but then you'd only give me a woof of an answer wouldn't you?"

The familiar chuffed.

Chuckling, Kirche scratched at the wolf's ear, "I thought you might say something like that, so I suppose it would be best to start at the beginning. Especially with the curious tales I've been hearing these last few days. Did you hear them to?"

At this, the wolf huffed, perking her ears in interest though Louise continued her refusal to acknowledge her rival.

"They were such interesting stories. A pair of worn servant's shoes mysteriously mended at night, wilting flowers to be replaced blooming out of season instead. Why, there was even a withered tree that blossomed with life again in the few minutes it was left unattended." Kirche clicked her tongue in amusement, "I hear one or two of the teachers are still puzzling out how that particular incident came about. They can't quite decide if it was water magic at work. But that's hardly the end of it, oh my no. Louise's little mishap with transmutation magic a few days ago undone in an instant, windows repaired just the way they were before a... proper mage could come along and do something about it."

"Not the students, not the teachers, and certainly not even an outsider mage could have done it without someone noticing, and yet, it happened exactly that way. In fact, it was as if there was never an explosion at all. Magic, perhaps even unheard of magic, is at play. But no one takes the credit for it and no one knows who to thank. A mystery is afoot, with a mysterious being, quiet and unseen as she goes about helping those who catch her eye. Why it's like something out of a fable. Does that sound familiar Shiranui?"

Despite her earlier denial, Louise found herself inexplicably listening to the Germanian's words, especially when her wolf's tail had stiffened beneath her fingers upon mention of the tree. Though she was tired and battered, her mind was still sharp enough to realize that whatever Kirche was saying, her wolf seemed to recognize it.

"And just as we were waiting for our mysterious mage to show herself through that cloud spell," Kirche continued with every sign of relish, "there you were with Foquet and Louise for company."

Louise huffed in barely concealed disbelief at Kirche's suggestive tone. A part of her demanded that she put an end to this nonsense and just leave before whatever insanity the Germanian had caught proved to be infectious. But the other part of her was thinking very hard on what she had said, what she was implying and what it might have meant if there was even a scrap of truth to it.

Could she have done it? Shiranui had proven to be an elusive familiar when she wanted to be, easily slipping out of notice when she chose to do so. And if there was even more magic to her than tonight had demonstrated... well, that wouldn't be terribly surprising. But if she was responsible, then why did she do it? What possible reason would her wolf go about doing any of those things? And why hide it? Looking at her familiar's eyes, Louise found no answer except patient watchfulness, even more questions and a gnawing worry beginning to form in her chest.

Even if she had no idea why Shiranui would be doing any of that, the simply fact remained that if it was true, then the wolf possessed even more magic than she had imagined. A wolf powerful in the wind element was one thing, but Kirche's description spoke of water and earth elements at work, and not insignificant amounts of it either. She hadn't heard of such a spell before, but making flowers and withered trees bloom again, that had to be square class work at the least didn't it? If the wild theory Kirche was hinting at held the truth, then almost too much power became far too much.

A human mage could possess that kind of proficiency in a single element if they were of the square rank, but several elements at that level? Only the blasphemous elves had that kind of power. Them and to a lesser extent, the rhyme dragons...

It was that stray thought that cut through both her fatigue and irritation at Kirche. Rhyme dragons were extinct because they had been hunted to the last **precisely **for their magical properties. Everything about them, even their scales, were so heavily infused with magic that they were used as reagents for spells far beyond what could normally be achieved. With her command of the wind element, Shiranui was already a unique existence, a wolf magical enough to be surely considered on par with the rhyme dragons, if not greater. And if there was even more to her familiar, if there was...

"Enough Kirche," Louise declared with a sharp shake of her head as her thoughts crystallized from idle speculation to certainty. There were so many implications, so many things hinted at that became possible instead of ridiculous once she considered them. "Just stop it."

The redhead pouted, "Aw, don't be a spoilsport Louise. Your familiar certainly seems interested in hearing more." But then a knowing grin started to spread across her face. She didn't say anything then. She didn't need to, because Louise had no trouble at all deciphering the kind of look Kirche was sending her. 'I know that you know', it all but gloated, 'and you know that I know you know'.

"No, we don't," she countered as she rose to her feet, biting down the sudden temptation to respond to that smug look with a poke to the eyes. Beside her, Shiranui chuffed, flicking her tail against Louise's leg. "It's late, we're both dirty, and in case it escaped your notice, we just fought Foquet. I for one, am much too tired to listen to your wild fantasies constructed out of servant gossip and coincidence."

And with that, she began walking away.

"Oh my no Louise, certainly not fantasy," the statuesque Germanian called out with a smile, "it's certainly no more fantasy than your fine white wolf and her performance tonight." She theatrically swept a hand around to encompass the ruined grounds where they had fought Foquet. "But if you doubt me, I could always ask the teachers what they think of my suspicions."

No more than six steps after her attempt at leaving, Louise came to a stop.

Not for the first time since she had known Kirche, Louise wished she could just magic away her rivals memories of the last five minutes, or at least cast a working spell of silence. Instead, she just glowered at the redhead for a long second, struggling mightily not to lose her temper and yell at the infuriating woman. But... she sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Alright Kirche, fine. You've made your point," she crossed her arms, glaring at the redhead, "what do you hope to get out of me?"

"Oh you can deny it, but- what?" Kirche faltered, the knowing smirk falling off her face for a moment to be replaced by uncertainty. "You're giving up, just like that?"

Louise didn't say anything, though if glares were words, there... might have been a little shouting in it. Just a little.

Kirche's lips twitched, as if she was trying to smile but couldn't decide to go through with it. "You're no fun like this you know that? No fun at all." She said at last with a shake of her head.

Alright, there would have been some shout-

"But I'm afraid it would have to wait for a little while," the Germanian gestured with a nod towards the Academy, where a familiar bearded figure was making his way towards them, "unless you want to share certain things with our esteemed headmaster of course."

A lot of shouting.

* * *

><p>"Well professor, it has certainly been an exciting night has it not?"<p>

Long used to the peculiarities of his superior, Professor Colbert sighed and consulted the notes he had taken from the various interviews he had run with both the students and staff. Idly, he wondered if Osmond's talent for understatement had somehow contributed to the office he now held. The elder mage certainly showed no signs of worry at the events that had transpired, nonchalantly feeding his familiar some kind of biscuit as if the Academy vault hadn't been breached this very night. "I could do without a repeat of these incidents headmaster. Foquet caught us badly off guard."

That he had been caught in the thief's trap as well only served to make the embarrassment worse. He should have realized the moment he heard the commotion outside, far too calamitous to have been anything but a full scale battle between mages, that there would have been a contingency in place to pacify any response from the Academy. Instead he had reacted like a novice, responding to the obvious threat and missing the subtle one. He'd gotten soft.

The next thing he remembered after that was waking to bone rattling crack of thunder and by then everything was over.

"Aside from your office, faculty quarters and main access to the student dorms were similarly affected, though it doesn't look like she bothered with the servants quarters. Probably not worth the effort on her part. I had them double check, just in case, but it looks like everyone is accounted for, with nothing worse than a few scrapes or bruises to show for it."

"We were lucky that almost everyone was in bed at the time, it could have been much worse if she had struck earlier when there were more people moving around." He shook his head, concealing the yawn that was building up. Aside from the brief spell where Foquet's trap had gotten him, he and the rest of the staff had been up the whole night, going over everything to make check on the students well-being and ensure nothing else was stolen. "Luckier still that she only intended to keep us out of the way temporarily instead of something more permanent."

The thought was a chilling one, if not truly plausible. He'd heard of the notoriety surrounding the legendary thief as well, but none of the stories, not even the wilder ones, painted her to be a mass murderer. But old habits died hard, and the fact that it had been done, and could have been easily far more deadly, stuck with him, his mind methodically sorting through the ways such a vulnerability could have been exploited. With both students and faculty incapacitated, only the servants and a mere handful of mundane guardsmen were all the protection the Academy had against an outside threat.

"Mmm, yes, very fortunate indeed, just the right amount of sleeping draught in the magelights. Not enough to be obvious, but enough certainly do us in. Quite clever of her. It must have taken many nights to prepare such a plan, and successfully too. We shall have to see about inspecting the rest, in case there are other surprises." Osmond vigorously shook his head, beard wagging like an overly long tail, "This should not have happened Professor Colbert, but at the least I am quite pleased at the spirit of our students displayed at apprehending her."

"To be honest headmaster, I'm surprised they survived the encounter with so few injuries to show for it. They could have been killed just as easily, Foquet did not go down without a fight," he had to shake his head at the unintentional understatement. Nevermind the student testimonies of what had transpired or his experience reading the aftermath of battle, the devastation to the Academy walls and beyond would have been obvious to even a common layman. From the damage, the woman was a square class mage worthy of her reputation, and had certainly gone all out soon after the non-lethal binding spells had failed to work. How the students had prevailed...

He sighed, mentally reviewing his notes and hoping that they would explain matters better- but no, the words were still the same. Foquet had been defeated in combat, true, the evidence was undeniable. But it was difficult to imagine three students being responsible for it, even if two of them were line ranked mages. Miss Tabitha was a Chevalier certainly, and no stranger to spell battle, but neither Von Zerbst nor Miss Valliere could make the same claim. Against an experienced square mage like Foquet, the odds were... not good. And it would have been, except...

"It was most fortuitous that Miss Valliere was able to overcome her troubling difficulties with magic during this crisis," the headmaster voiced Colbert's concerns aloud. "Though I suspect you are more concerned about the timing, are you not Jeanne?"

Colbert rubbed at his brow in consternation, but he nodded all the same. Questioning both Miss Tabitha and Miss Zerbst had produced similar accounts of how Louise and her magic had been pivotal in defeating Foquet, which had proven to be quite a surprise. Despite all the troubles she had with practical magic from the moment she had enrolled until today, the young Valliere had acquitted herself far beyond his wildest hopes. Perhaps a little too far. "I have to admit it's somewhat unusual Osmond. Miss Valliere has always had difficulties with the ah, practical side of spellcasting, so it's unexpected that she would have been able to master the lightning spell so suddenly."

Unspoken was the cooling lumps of molten stone at the site of Foquet's defeat, or how the air had crackled with unspent energy. Colbert had spent enough of his youth amongst far too many wind mages to know what lightning spells were like. Triangle ranked spells, they were powerful magics that could stop a man's heart and leave behind a steaming corpse. That wasn't what he had seen out there amidst the smouldering wreckage of Foquet's golem. It had all the signs of liberal use of the lightning spell, but it was orders of magnitude more powerful than anything a triangle class mage should have been capable of producing.

And Louise had done all that in the heat of the moment?

On one hand, it pained him to doubt the girl. She had struggled with failure for so long that denying her accomplishments now would feel like a betrayal. But on the other hand, he could find no discernible reason as to how she had suddenly overcome her troubles, and in such a spectacular manner at that. It _was_ odd, and there was no way around it.

"It is true that it isn't the norm," The headmaster made a thoughtful sound, stroking his beard, "but the norm is not what one should expect of the Heavy Wind's progeny, is it not?" He waggled his eyebrows, "Is it that surprising that I would know of Karin's station or your previous association with her professor? I may be an old man, but I am still the headmaster of this Academy, and unusual happenings draw my attention. First an unusual familiar with runes that are decidedly not normal, and now this. Tell me Jeanne, were you able to decipher those runes?"

Colbert felt his brow furrowing as he shook his head. "No. None of the manuscripts we have were able to identify the runes with certainty. Do you suspect they or the familiar might have something to do with this?"

"It could be, it could be not, but I do believe there is a story to tell there if we were to learn its meaning," Eyebrows waggled as the older man gave a noncommittal shrug. "But to wit, your concerns are of Miss Valliere's sudden magical proficiency and not of her accomplishments is it not?"

It took a few seconds of thought before he responded, but Colbert shook his head. "No, I don't doubt that Louise played an important role in capturing Foquet."

"Then that is what the records will say, and these letters of commendation won't go to waste" the headmaster indicated the small stack of papers on his desk with a nod. "It is only proper that our students be suitably rewarded for service to both the Academy and Crown."

"Speaking of which, what will we do with Miss Long- I mean Foquet? I have Leblanc and the others watching over her, but..."

"Hmm? Is that old habits speaking Colbert? I had thought you left such things behind when you joined up with us, did you not?"

He grimaced. Leave it to the crafty old man to bring up his past. But Osmond had a point. "I did, but why just the Staff of Destruction? If Foquet managed to break into the vault, why not any of the other artifacts? If stealing for money was all she cared about, she could have walked off with far more than what she had taken. Foquet came in with a specific goal in mind."

Unspoken was conclusion that if Foquet had already come with the staff as her goal, then she must have either had a use for it, or a buyer who not only knew they had it, but of its value as well.

The headmaster nodded, though it was not one of assent. "And you wish to find the reason for that goal don't you? Your diligence is commendable Colbert, but that is a matter for the Crown and her knights to determine not ours. Even had I wished to pursue the matter, the message is already sent and will be out of our hands soon enough. Let the Questers worry about the hows and whys. We only need concern ourselves about the security of our Academy at this point. That, and the lamentably new impression on the southern wall and the gardens. Oh, and Jeanne?"

"Headmaster?"

"I understand that you certainly have a great many duties to do, but do keep an out eye out for the young Miss Valliere and her familiar if you would?"

Colbert blinked. "That's no trouble at all Headmaster Osmond, but may I ask why?"

"I believe we may on the cusp of hrmm... an interesting era Jeanne. An unusually early day, an unusual familiar and a certainly unusual result tonight." He stroked his beard contemplatively. "It would not be unreasonable to think the future may have many more surprises in store for us."

"Especially from her familiar."

* * *

><p>"<em>Kyuyuu- unff!"<em>

Shiranui chuffed, holding her paw out for a little longer where it rested on the dragon's snout. Watery azure eyes focused on her as the larger creature mewled piteously, the serpentine child making a few half hearted attempts at moving past the white wolf. But her spirit remained unyielding, unwilling to permit the dragon's impulsive desire to continue unchecked.

"_You should not disturb the wound so Irukukwu," _She chided the dragon softly with a brief huff, letting her ears flick with faint admonishment, _"let it heal on its own."_

"_It doesn't hurt anymore..." _she trilled, making one last effort before surrendering to Shiranui's will. Withdrawing her serpentine form, the youngling slumped onto her belly, her wings flapping listlessly as she curled her neck so she was face to face with Shiranui. "_Kyuuu, but it itches!" _She thumped her tail on the ground for added emphasis.

Shiranui huffed lightly at the plaintive cry that carried no heat, a gentle smile that her form could not show as she touched her nose to the dragon's snout.

"_It itches because it is healing, Irukukwu." _She murmured, _"the healers have performed their arts, but it will take time for the wound to close fully. Let it be until you are well again." _A moment's pause before she added with a touch of amusement,_ "So you can put your leg down."_

The dragon child started, hindleg raised from where it had been about to scratch at the bandaged flank, looking at her guiltily before warbling her acknowledgement _"Oh-kay Big Sister." _

The white wolf chuffed at the childish agreement, settling down in the courtyard with the dragon as they awaited the return of their bond bearers. Her tone had been light, the bubbling energy of the dragon buoying her spirits. Yet despite the gentle light of Tsukuyomi's doppelganger, troubled thoughts flickered through her, punctuated by the concerned calls of mortal instructors in the distance.

She had known anger before. Anger at the trickery of the nine tailed fox, the machinations of the dark being that had spawned the demons of Nippon. But always tempered by her duty, her affection for the lands and all that walked beneath her light that brought her will to its fullest. Such had touched her in the battle with the wielder of _chi_, holding her heart in ways it had not before. It had called her then, her choices forced by circumstance and emotions stronger than she had remembered. So close, she had skirted the edges of the precipice, to fall into the emotions that she should not and commit the forbidden, forever darkening both her soul and that of Raijin's instrument.

She did not regret her decision. There had been little else she could do. She could not permit the battle to proceed as the spirit user desired. And though the forbidden laws had not been transgressed, there had been a cost she had not wished to bear yet.

The choices she had made before, the paths she had hoped to lay, they would be in disarray now. Always before, her hand had been hidden, acted upon with the ignorance of those who would receive her boon. But the child who held her bond, as had all who had partaken of the battle, they had borne witness to the very truths that she had not wished to show. Not so soon, when they could not yet begin to understand. The villagers of Kamiki, they had not understood at first when she had approached. And what they did not know, they feared.

But the child had not feared, not truly. She had glimpsed it in the child's eyes as she left to speak with the instructors of what had transpired with the assailant, and then again as she left to rest. The child did not understand, yet the wonder and wariness she had carried was an open sign of her intentions. She would question and seek the truth. In that she differed from those of Kamiki blood, a difference that warmed Shiranui's spirit.

And yet it was too soon. She was not yet strong enough for the turmoil that could come should the truth be fully known. The mortals possessed a will that could be as implacable as the mountains, like that of the warrior Susano. But they were fickle in their faith, quick to folly and anger when they did not understand.

Would that she could change what had happened.

She huffed, chastising herself for such impulsive thoughts. To change what had been written was not a choice to be taken lightly, and would that she make that choice, she had yet to sense a spirit gate within this world since her reawakening. Her path, and that of the child, were set now. She could only weather them as she always did and take surety that it would be enough...

"_Kyuu... why is Big Sister sad?" _Irukukwu warbled, her words eliciting a questioning sound from the wolf.

The dragon sniffed curiously, her eyes locked on Shiranui's before she spoke, _"Big Sister smelled a little funny just now, kyuuu, like being hungry, only not-hungry. Big Big Sister said it meant someone was sad. Was it the Mean-mean-woman who hit Big Sister? Did she hurt Big Sister?" _She flapped her wings, her head bobbing with every word, _"Irukukwu could bite her, then you would feel better, kyu!"_

Shiranui chuffed, raising her paw once more to place it on the dragon's snout, _"No biting Irukukwu," _she admonished gently, withdrawing her paw once the child had calmed. _"She did not harm me."_

No sooner than the words were spoken that the dragon's eyes grew wide. _"Kyuuyui? But the Mean-mean-woman made the big stony man hit Big Sister and then Big Sister went flying! And then... and then..." _the words trailed off, her thoughts written upon her visage as she searched for her voice,_ "Kyuuuu... it didn't hurt? Then Big Sister is really strong, like Big Sis, only stronger. But... Irukukwu still doesn't understand why Big Sister was sad just now." _

So close. Irukukwu's intent was so very close to hers at that one moment when she had nearly forgotten that which she was. And yet... she had listened to the other humans as they spoke, learned that the lords they obeyed would do with the spirit user what she had come so close to doing. The doings of such amongst the mortals were of little surprise to her, but she could not deny the role she had played in making it possible.

She huffed to herself in self admonishment, gazing back into the young dragon's confused face. So innocent this one, many seasons older than most humans, yet so unmarked by her time amongst mortals. Such a precious thing. She could not lie, but she would not be the one to trouble the young one's naivety were she able. _"It is nothing to be concerned with Irukukwu. I..."_ she paused, tasting the words in her heart before speaking them.

"_Big sister is just thinking of the future."_

The adopted sibling warbled her curiosity, but paused as Shiranui's ears flicked, her eyes raised towards Tsukuyomi's doppelganger in contemplation. Moments passed in long silence before she huffed, rising to her feet, the child following suit as she padded away from the open gardens.

"_Big Sister?"_ her sister cooed, her following presence hovering behind Shiranui_ "What future?" _

Though she did not slow, her tail swished in concern as the question bore upon her thoughts. The paths she had sought were varied now, different from what should have been. _"A future, Irukukwu, though of what kind I cannot say with certainty."_

The dragon child lapsed into contemplative silence, following the path she walked without words. It did not take long before they had arrived close to her destination, a lit entry high above, curtains drifting in the breeze that whispered by.

"_Kyuuuu... will there be yummies in the future?"_

She huffed softly, her amusement unchecked as she favoured her sister with a brief look before turning her attention skywards once more. _"Perhaps Irukukwu. But not this night. It is rest you need now. We shall see what the morning brings."_

Understanding her intent, the dragon trilled a farewell as she quickened her approach. Her will echoed upon the world, unyielding stone welcoming her grasp as she ascended the walls. Only moments, and she was perched near the door that led within.

Where the child was waiting for her.

* * *

><p>The whispering crackle of well aged paper broke the silence as Tabitha turned yet another page of a well worn book to the warm light of a nearby oil lantern, one of the few decorative luxuries she has permitted herself. Beside her subdued passion for literature, her room has remained mostly unchanged from since the day she first arrived. One of the rare few personal items of hers sat ticking quietly away on the mantelpiece, the aged clock telling the time that should have been.<p>

The hour had long since passed the point where it could be considered late, yet the lone occupant within the dorm room did not rest. Though she is well accustomed to late nights, shadows rim her blue eyes and her head droops occasionally beneath the heavy weight of fatigue. Yet she remains awake, holding on for another minute as she turns yet another page.

The past few days had produced many questions, some perplexing, others troubling in what answers they might have held. Compared to an answer to at least some of those questions, sleep was less important.

Mercifully, she was not kept waiting long, the steady of beating of wings and the rattling of her balcony door announcing a presence from the outside.

She put her book down, reaching for the wand by her bedside. With a tiny flick of the instrument and an equally small burst of magic, the lock unlatched and the doors swung open, permitting her visitor to peer within.

"Kyuuuu!" heedless of the relative smallness of the opening, the young dragon poked her head through the window, sinuous neck just long enough to nuzzle against her masters chest like an enthusiastic puppy.

Keeping her balance despite the draconic head pressing against her chest, Tabitha motioned the dragon to silence with a tap of her finger, raising the wand once more. A soft buzz filled the air as she cast her magic again, the sound fading away to nothingness as the spell of whistling winds encompassed the room.

Satisfied with her handiwork, she broke the silence with a single word, "Irukukwu." The quiet returns as she inspects the bindings on her partner's flank, only the flicker of a frown telling her displeasure. Despite the healer's ministrations and the general shallowness of the wound, she regretted the necessity of straining her dragon so soon with flight. "No longer hurts?"

The dragon trilled, rubbing its head against her.

"It doesn't hurt anymore Big Sis, but it itches lots!" A tremble ran throughout the dragon, and the suggestion of movement in its hindquarters brought Tabitha's hand up warningly. But the dragon chirped "Kyuu, Irukukwu knows. Big Sister says Irukukwu isn't supposed to scratch at it even if it itches because itching means it's getting all better even if Irukukwu really really wants to scratch at it," at her before she could do more than raise that appendage.

She raised an eyebrow just by a fraction at the dragon's words. It was a small discrepancy, hardly worth noticing to most people amidst the flood of words. But Tabitha was not most people, her experiences sharpening her ear to anything out of the ordinary. "Big Sister?"

Irukukwu paused, cooing as she drew back to look at her mistress with uncertain eyes. But then she brightens instantly in the way only a dragon could. "Kyui! Irukukwu wanted to tell you the other day because Big Sister was really nice to Irukukwu and she smelled like the day. But then Big Sister gave Irukukwu magic food later which was all kinds of yummy and Irukukwu ," She trailed off with an apologetic warble, lowering her head as she does so, "Irukukwu is sorry."

A twitch of alarm ran through Tabitha's fingers, but she schooled it to stillness. "Magic food?" She whispered," What kind of magic?"

"Irukukwu doesn't know," the dragon trilled, "Big Sister brought some yummies when the sun came up too early and then said there was more, but Irukukwu didn't see it so Irukukwu thought it had to be magic food."

She paused, draconic blue eyes blinking in thought before continuing. "Kyuu, Big Sister didn't say it was magic food, but suddenly there was lots of yummies when there wasn't anything just now so it must have been Big Sister's magic food. Irukukwu knows it wasn't there because she couldn't smell it on Big Sister. Irukukwu just saw grass and then the grass was yummies. And there was meat and everything, so many yummies Irukukwu couldn't finish it, and all the other familiars got to eat lots too. Kyui, Irukukwu likes Big Sister, she's nice to everyone."

"Big Sister," Tabitha cuts her dragon's recounting short with a gesture, "who?"

"Kyuui, Big Sister is Big Sister," Irukukwu crooned, as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world, "not like Big Big Sister, because Big Sister isn't a rhyme dragon like Irukukwu and Big Big Sister but she talks like Big Big Sister sometimes when she's thinking about things like tomorrow. Irukukwu doesn't get all the things Big Sister talks about, but she said there might be yummies tomorrow too."

The slight girl frowned at her dragon, noting the small trail of drool dripping down her dragon's maw. "Irukukwu, focus. Who is Big Sister?"

"Big Sister is Amaterimi... Amatamu... Amamama... kyuu... Irukukwu doesn't really remember. Big Sister's name was really hard to say, so Irukukwu calls her Ammy because it's easier and Big Sister didn't mind at all."

With a dragon's head pressed to her chest, Tabitha didn't have an easy view of the rest of her familiar, but the excited twitching of her tail was too energetic to miss, "Maybe Big Sis can have Ammy as a Big Sister too! Big Sister is lots of nice, and probably won't mind. And- and if Big sis has Big Sister then maybe Big Sis wouldn't smell so sad anymore, kyui!"

Tabitha's frown deepened, and an edge crept into her voice. "You spoke to her?"

The dragon jerked her head back as if struck, eyes wide in sudden panic. "Eek, Irukukwu is sorry, kyuyuyuu, Irukukwu didn't mean to break Big Sis's rule!" She babbled apologetically, flapping her wings in consternation before she suddenly halted, "But-but-but Irukukwu thought it was alright to speak because Irukukwu went kyuui, and not human words and because Big Sister was a puppy and not a human so that should have been okay."

"Puppy..." she paused, and then made an informed guess, "Louise's familiar? Shiranui?"

"Kyu! But her name is Ammy, not Shiranui" The scaled head bobbed so vigorously it nearly smashed into the ceiling, "Irukukwu thought Big Sister was a puppy and Irukukwu wanted to play, but then Big Sister could talk without talking, kyui! Irukukwu was so surprised."

"But then Irukukwu smelled Big Sister and she didn't smell like a puppy at all! Irukukwu didn't get it at first, because puppies should be puppies even when they don't smell like one. But then Big Sister wasn't a puppy because puppies can't talk without talking, and was really polite and everything even when Irukukwu got too close and kind of knocked her down though Irukukwu didn't mean to. Big Sister was really nice about it and said she wasn't mad at all."

"Kyuu," the dragon chirps, not noticing the troubled expression on her master's face, "and Big Sister is really strong. The mean-mean lady hit Big Sister with the big stone man and made Big Sister fly, but it didn't even hurt her. And then when the she poked at Irukukwu with the stone sticks and made everyone fall down, Big Sister got really mad and called the lightning and made the Rhyme sing with her better than Big Big Sister can."

"Big Sister can be really really scary when she's mad kyuuyuuyu, but Irukukwu wasn't scared at all because Big Sister likes everyone and just wanted to stop the mean-mean lady from poking at everyone, kyui!"

Silence reigned as the dragon trailed off, looking at her master with shining eyes. Tabitha remained stock still, her demeanor still wary to the dragon's nose, yet more lax than it had been a little while ago. "Not a wolf?" She said after a while, receiving an empathic kyui in reply. "Then?"

The dragon trilled. "Irukukwu wasn't sure at first because Big Sister smelled all kinds of funny, it was all kinds of mixed up. But then Irukukwu remembered what Big Sis and Big Big Sister said before about spirits, and Big Sister was kind of like that even if she wasn't mad all the time like the stories said she'd be."

Tabitha opened her mouth to speak, just a fraction, but nothing came out and she closed a moment later. As the silence stretched, she fixed the dragon with a look that elicited a nervous eep from her 'little sister'.

"Teasing me."

And just like that, the dragon lost her nervousness and drew back with a drawn out snort. "Kyuuuuu, Irukukwu isn't teasing Big Sis, it's the truth! Big Sister is a spirit!" She flapped her wings in annoyance, "Really really!"

"I believe you." Tabitha reached out with her fingers in a custom the dragon is quickly learning to recognize and despite herself, Irukukwu lowered her head with an annoyed huff, "What type of spirit?"

"Irukukwu doesn't know." She trilled, turning her head in pleasure as Tabitha's fingers found a particular spot on her scales and scratches it just _so. _"Big Sis said spirits were like the air or water, but Big Sister doesn't smell anything at all like that. But Irukukwu thought her smell was really special, not like anything normal at all, that's how Irukukwu knew Big Sister wasn't a puppy but a spirit."

"Special?"

"Kyui! Big Sister Ammy smells like the morning sky."

* * *

><p>"Shiranui?"<p>

Already on her bed with blankets already drawn up around her chin, Louise blinked sleepily at the shadow standing outside her balcony door. A long moment passed as she blinked a few times more, the silhouette coming into focus as a familiar figure. There was a low sound, a flick of an ear in response, and she raised her hand in a beckoning gesture. The wolf responded instantly, padding over into her room and onto her bed with a soundless leap.

"I finally get to bed and you only show up now?" She grumbled wearily, though her words didn't carry any real heat. Stroking the wolf's head as Shiranui settled down beside her, Louise regarded her familiar with faint exasperation. "It's going to be a habit with you, isn't it? Always coming and going as you please?"

In response, the wolf turned to look at her and huffed as if to say, 'of course I would, wouldn't you?'

A long moment passed as Louise looked her familiar in the eye... and then she gave up, sinking back onto her pillow with a sigh, her thoughts still a jumble. It wasn't like she had told the wolf to come with her when she had gone to give Osmond her testimony anyway, leaving the wolf in the company of Tabitha's dragon. And she had been much too tired to spend more than a token effort looking for her familiar afterwards before giving it up.

"The headmaster is going to commend me to the title of Chevalier, can you believe that?" She murmured to the wolf, the familiar responding with a short questioning whine. "Little Louise, awarded an honored title for her courage and prowess in helping to capture Foquet." She laughed softly, "and to think this all happened because you went out for a walk at night."

A few seconds passed in companionable silence before she spoke again. "But if you hadn't disappeared, and I hadn't followed, then none of this would have happened. I would still be a zero, and I would... I still know almost nothing about you," she amended.

The arching of the white tail was like a raised eyebrow.

"You're not an ordinary wolf Shiranui, I knew that from the beginning. But I never thought... never imagined you would be so extraordinary like this." She admitted with a yawn, her eyelids drooping heavily against her weariness "Even if what Kirche said about you was just all nonsense, there's so much about you that's just too strange."

There was no answer from the wolf, only the flick of an ear to indicate that she was still listening.

"That lightning magic of yours, that was square ranked at least. Most nobles wouldn't be capable of half that, not so often. I'm not sure even mother could. You have so much power it's almost a little frightening what you can do. And that day in the courtyard with the other familiars, it's like they look up to you, Tabitha's dragon especially. They wouldn't do that for just any wolf if she was just a little magical."

"There's just so much about you that I don't know that I just can't ignore it anymore... even if Kirche didn't want to pry," she added with bit of bitterness before yawning again, this time her eyes drifting shut. "But don't worry, she won't reveal your secrets."

Even in her exhaustion, the memory of Kirche stopping her outside Osmond's office and claiming that she had been in it only for fun instead of maliciousness or greed brought a moment of irritation to her. Not that the Germanian would give up her hopes to learn more about Shiranui. But for all their rivalry, Louise believed Kirche's claim. Infuriating as her overstuffed rival was, she had been far too friendly with Shiranui to want her harmed. And grabby too, hmph. At least the hussy had the decency to wait until she had a nights rest before pestering her.

"So strange, so powerful. And yet I summoned you. Do you think," she murmured as sleep finally rose up to claim her, "that maybe one day, I'll be as strong as you are? That if the summoning brought you to me, I'll become a worthy wind mage like mother too?"

There was a chuff, a low sound that barely registered to her fading mind.

It sounded... encouraging.

* * *

><p>As the moons drifted across the sky, Louise slumbered restfully, exhaustion plunging her into deep, dreamless sleep. In the darkness, a pale lupine form stirred beside her, rising only slightly from the bed.<p>

Golden eyes watched in silence, and then in one motion, their noses touched. Words that made no sound passed by, the Valliere scion murmuring meaningless noises at the contact though she did not stir.

"_Patience child," _the voice that was not spoke, _"for this night is but the first step of your journey."_

A tiny orb of pale white light flickered into being, radiating from within the bosom of the sleeping young woman. It glowed, its illumination undulating slowly to reveal a sliver of essence within its core that shone even brighter than the moons above. Slowly, the wolf drew back, and the light faded away to darkness once more.

"_One day you will grow to the strength that is yours." _

A huff, the silence broken for the last time as the wolf settled down beside her bond bearer to rest.

"_And I will be proud of you."_

* * *

><p><strong>Irukukwu's Kyuudex<strong>

Irukukwu gets to write? Really? Yay! Irukukwu gets to talk about all sorts of things, which is good. Irukukwu doesn't get to talk a lot otherwise, because Big Sis says I'm not supposed to let people know that I can talk except for her. But she says I can talk to you all now even though we're not high in the sky because Irukukwu is good and gets to explain things and that people shouldn't be confused, Kyui!

**Big Sis**

Big Sis is the one that called me here with her magic, mm! Mother said I shouldn't go, but Irukukwu smelled her through the funny green portal thing and she smelled sad sad, so Irukukwu decided to cheer her up, Kyuu! Big Sis is a human, but she's really really small for one, like the not-small monkeys in the forests which are really tasty. But Big Sis isn't tasty like them because Irukukwu licked Big Sis before and she's really salty and not at all yummy. But that's ok because Irukukwu doesn't really want to eat Big Sis.

Irukukwu likes Big Sis lots, cause Big Sis knows how to scratch that place with her hand kyuuu and likes to read for Irukukwu. But Big Sis can sometimes be mean to Irukukwu and makes Irukukwu work really really hard. Like the time Big Sis made Irukukwu get chased by the stinky fire dragon and didn't even give Irukukwu any meat for a reward. Irukukwu got bread instead that was supposed to taste like meat, but that's cheating, kyuumph! It wasn't like meat at all!

Kyuyuu~, but Irukukwu didn't bite Big Sis, because Big Sis is Big Sis and Irukukwu is a good dragon and good dragons don't bite their Big Sis.

**Big Sister**

Big sister is older than Irukukwu, kyuu, older than Big Big Sister too, but nicer. She talks more than Big Sis, but doesn't get to talk as much to Irukukwu because we don't see each other a lot. Irukukwu would like to talk to Big Sister more, she's nice and she can make magic food too! Big Sisters magic food is always tasty, and she gives lots of it to Irukukwu. Big sis sometimes forgets that Irukukwu can get hungry, kyuuuyuui, but never Big Sister, so Irukukwu doesn't get hungry anymore.

Big sister looks like a puppy sometimes, and sometimes like a person, but only when Irukukwu isn't looking properly and then she doesn't smell like either one. She always smells different, like the Ryhme, especially when she brings out her magic food. Big Sister is really really smart too! She knows lots of things, like the time-

Kyuyuyuuu, Big Sis says I shouldn't tell you about it or she'll get lots of mad, and Big Sis can be scary-scary-scary even though she's smaller than Irukukwu and probably won't fill Irukukwu's tummy anyway.

But Big Sister is really really nice. She gives me lots of food and always makes things feel better. Don't tell Big Sis, but Big Sister is best Sis.

**Big Big Sister**

Big Big Sister is Irukukwu's sister, but not like Big Sis and Big Sister, because Big Big Sister is a rhyme dragon like Irukukwu. Big Big Sister is really lots of smart and always teaches Irukukwu about all the things like the Rhyme and the birds and and... and the tasty things! Kyu! But Big Big Sister knows about spirits too and taught Irukukwu lots about them, that's why Irukukwu knows Big Sister was a spirit.

Big Big Sister didn't really like the the funny green portal thing and told Irukukwu that if she ever saw one, Irukukwu shouldn't go in, because there were mean mean humans on the other side who would bite Irukukwu and make her into yummies. But then Big Big Sister was wrong because even when there were people, there was Big Sis, and Big Sis didn't try to make Irukukwu into yummies. Though Big Sis can sometimes hit Irukukwu with her big stick when Irukukwu sees a yummy thing and wants to eat it.

Irukukwu sometimes wonders where Big Big Sister is now. Big Big Sister always liked to sing with the Rhyme and make the funny colours in the sky, but Irukukwu can't hear her anymore or see the lights and Irukukwu can't sing with the Rhyme yet. Kyuuu, Big Big Sister must be really really far away. Irukukwu misses Big Big Sister sometimes, but if Irukukwu didn't go in, then she'd never have met Big Sis and a Big Sister.

But that's alright, because Irukukwu is going to see Big Big Sister one day. Maybe Big Sister will come along too, kyu!

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: This took a lot longer to assemble than I had initially planned for. Many apologies for the delay, but I had to keep rebuilding it a few times because I just didn't like the flow and pacing before this current incarnation. Not really much action, so to speak, but after the previous chapter, I hope you'll find this a satisfactory aftermath. That, and of course, the Kyuudex.


	7. Chapter 07

**Summoning the Sun**

**Chapter 07**

"_What fanciful tales have you been listening to? A spirit treating with a common born human? What nonsense." _- Eleanore Valliere, an overheard conversation.

* * *

><p>Shiranui wandered the gardens beneath the early light of her domain as was fast becoming her custom. But no calm came to her as she silently padded across the grounds, her heart troubled by what lay before her.<p>

The white wolf took in the signs of battle from the night before. The earth had been torn asunder, the grass and flowers trampled until nothing remained but mud, broken stalks and the shattered remnants of the wall. Trees that had once stood tall and proud now lay brokenly on their sides, uprooted in the struggle that had taken place. Even the kin of Konohana, once invigorated by her will, had not been spared. The aged tree had not fallen, yet many of its branches had been shorn free, the ones remaining bereft of the colour and life they had once held. Dismay welled within her being as she touched its weathered trunk and felt its weakening call.

Her will trembled upon the borders of the realm, the shadow of her desire held and not yet released. It called within her, to undo what had been wrought with a will that was solely hers. Even drained as she was, it could not impede this wrong from being made right once more.

And yet...

And yet she did not.

Many others walked the broken grounds as she did. Servants, teachers, those who wielded the spirit arts and those who had but only the strength of their bodies, all were joined in purpose to heal the destruction that had been wrought. In this place, her will was not needed, for the mortal humans would accomplish much on their own what she already wished.

Except, perhaps...

She reached out once more, listening to the fading whisper that resonated within her being.

Letting her will echo upon the world.

* * *

><p>Irukukwu liked the morning a lot of times. There was cool air, lots of birds and the promise of yummies when Big Sis came because Big Sis didn't want Irukukwu hunting on her own. She didn't like <em>this <em>morning very much however. She flexed a wing and stretched, warbling as her tummy and sides hurt where the mean mean lady had hit her with stones. But the pain was only kind of stinging so she didn't feel like curling up and kyuuying until the pain went away. Maybe she could even fly today without hurting. Which was good, kyuu! Irukukwu liked flying almost as much as she liked yummies.

And right now, she would like yummies very much, because her tummy was going guruururuu which meant it was time to eat.

But just when she was about to go flying to look for food, she sniffed something in the air that made her tail perk up.

Big Sis had come, and she had brought meat, kyuu! Irukukwu wanted to jump up and run to Big Sis, and maybe push her around so Irukukwu could get at the yummy yummy meat. But Big Sis had her stick up and Irukukwu didn't want to get bopped on the snout for being impatient so she had to sit and wait as Big Sis walked around her and poked at the places the mean lady had hit her.

"Still hurt?" Big Sis asked.

Irukukwu shook her head, but her tummy went gurururuuu which was a different kind of hurt. The hurt that demanded yummies! Irukukwu let Big Sis know by licking her, and then she got the yummies though she got bopped on the snout for knocking Big Sis over in the end. But Irukukwu didn't mind too much because now she had a bucket full of hearts and livers and mmmrmrrmrmrrmmm!

"Enough?" Big Sis asked once the bucket was all empty and had only bits of blood that Irukukwu hadn't licked up yet. Irukukwu trilled in reply and flexed her wings. To her, enough food was a mountain of meat and blood that was bigger than Big Big Sister. So big Irukukwu could roll in it. But since her belly wasn't going gurururu anymore, it was enough for now. Wait. She trilled again with a question. Maybe if she said no, Big Sis would come back with that mountain of yummies?

But Big Sis bopped her when she said that and told her to follow instead of talking about silly things.

Silly things? Kyumph! Yummies were serious things! But Irukukwu didn't say anything anymore because Big Sis had brought up her stick again and Irukukwu didn't want to be bopped on the nose.

Big Sis didn't want to fly there even when Irukukwu said she was fine, so they walked out of the forest and to the big buildings where all the other people were. Irukukwu made a happy sound at that. If Big Sis wanted Irukukwu to wait there, maybe she could find Big Sister then? Then maybe Big Sister could take out her magic food again and there would be yummies for everyone. And maybe some for Big Sis too, because Irukukwu didn't mind sharing when there was lots of food to go around. Big Sis really ate a lot of food for a very small human.

Sometimes Irukukwu thought Big Sis was secretly a rhyme dragon in disguise too.

But thoughts of food and Big Sis being a dragon soon went away when they went into the gardens, because Irukukwu's most favourite person was waiting for them under a tree that smelled like it was Rhyme-touched.

"Kyuuu!" She warbled, pouncing forward and giving Big Sister a lick.

"_Irukukwu,"_ Big Sister's voice chimed in Irukukwu's head, the not-puppy pushing her away with a paw. _"Are you well?"_

"_Mmm!" _Irukukwu trilled back, making sure to use the familiar language because there were other people around and Big Sis said not to speak in human language when they could listen. _"It doesn't hurt anymore, and Big Sis brought me something to eat just now so my tummy doesn't go gurururu any..." _she stopped. Wait, Big Sister had said something about yummies too hadn't she?

"_But it wasn't a lot," _She kyuu'd with her bestest pleading look, _"and it's morning now and Irukukwu was thinking maybe Big Sister..." _

Big Sister got up and chuffed.

"_Are you hungry, Irukukwu?" _

"_Mmm!" _Irukukwu began, but then stopped as she smelled Big Sis coming up behind. Irukukwu didn't know a lot of human scents yet, but Big Sis smelled mad in the nose bopping kind of way because Irukukwu didn't think she was supposed to be doing this. But Big Sis didn't hit Irukukwu on the nose, instead she walked up and looked at Big Sister like she was mad at her. Her face didn't change very much, but she smelled like she really wanted to bop something on the nose. But she also smelled worried, really, really worried, like Big Sister was going to bite her lots. Big Sister looked back at Big Sis too, her ears pricked up. Irukukwu didn't see any teeth, but Big Sister was becoming all serious!

Irukukwu mewled softly. She didn't want Big Sis and Big Sister to bite each other!

But then Big Sister flicked her tail and her ears twitched away.

"_Be at ease Irukukwu. Perhaps it is sooner than I had wished, but it cannot be avoided. We will return in time." _

Irukukwu made a confused sound at that. What was sooner? What was happening? Where were they going? Big Sister didn't sound very happy. But she didn't sound very sad either... kyurururuuu. But then Big Sister was already walking, going past Big Sis and to the outside. Big Sis turned around too, and Irukukwu began to follow. But then Big Sis stopped and held out a hand and said, "stay."

Irukukwu looked at Big Sis and mewled. Big Sis said stay so she was supposed to stay like a good dragon. But she was confused and worried too and maybe she shouldn't have told Big Sis about Big Sister because she had gotten all quiet after that and now it sounded like they were going to do something that might make them mad and and and... she didn't want to do nothing!

"_I want to come Big Sister." _She trilled at Big Sister, ignoring the bop on her nose so she could rub it against Big Sis's face. _"I want to come. I want to, I want to, I want to." _

She flapped her wings and warbled at both her Big Sis's. The other humans were looking and pointing at Irukukwu but Irukukwu didn't care. This was important, kyuu!

Big Sis looked at her and Irukukwu thought she would bop her on the nose again but she breathed out and lowered her bopping stick. Then she bobbed her head which was human for ok so Irukukwu trilled and licked Big Sis. She still didn't know what Big Sis and Big Sister were going to do, but she was going to make sure that they were going to be like real sisters afterwards.

Irukukwu was going to help!

* * *

><p>Louise was dreaming. And she knew it was a dream because being honored in a grand audience chamber by the princess for great deeds that would be remembered in the histories, and all her classmates were there and applauding. Even Kirche was cheering her on, hugging her warmly between those oversized tracts of land that she somehow didn't mind all that much. There was so much joy and adulation, so many congratulations and happy faces, that Louise felt tears forming.<p>

And there was Mother, serenely walking down the hall with her sisters in tow. Louise was doubly sure that it was a dream because Mother was looking at her with not just an approvingly raised eyebrow, but an actual smile that was every bit as warm and comforting as Cattleya's. Mother came to a halt in front of her, bending slightly to place hands on her shoulders as she opened her mouth and say-

"Wakey wakey dearie!"

The chamber broke in a dozen spinning shards with a thunderous slam, leaving her staring blearily at the canopy of her bed. Bits of memory and observation flitted through Louise's mind at that point. She was in her bed. It was early in the morning. She still had her warm, snuggly blankets. There might have been someone calling for her. She made the only logical choice and turned over to burrow deeper into her bed, trying to recapture that wonderful dream.

"Oh no you don't Louise." The annoying voice persisted.

"Meeeurgh," Louise eloquently countered, and buried her head under her pillow.

A gust of hot air answered, tearing away her blankets and, in the resulting tumult of limbs and bedding, deposited her rump on the floor with a thump. It did however, let her see who the culprit was.

Outline framed by the open doorway, hands on hips, Kirche sported a wide grin.

"You can't hide in bed forever sleepyhead." She smirked. "You know we've got a lot to do."

Cobwebs in her head, sleep crusted sight giving everything a blurry edge and more than a little annoyed, Louise took as good a look as she could at the Germanian and reluctantly agreed.

By throwing a pillow at her nemesis.

Several minutes and three impromptu missiles later, Louise was finally dressed and washed. "I don't see why you had to wake me at such an ungodly hour," she threw an accusing look at her rival with more than a touch of heat in it.

"Oh, I but did have to Louise." Kirche purred with disgusting cheer from the wall she was leaning against. "Us Germanians have a reputation for sin and debauchery to uphold you know. Unholy hours are the mere tip of what we can get up to. Besides, all the other students are already talking about what happened. You should have heard what they had to say."

Louise blanched in mid-brush. "You didn't-" She warned.

"Tch Louise, you may certainly disparage my upbringing," The redhead drew herself up with a blatantly feigned expression of hurt, fingers splayed across her chest, "but to think you had such poor regard for your fellow Tristainians ability to find answers on their own." She tutted. "People do talk you know, and not all the teachers are as discreet as I am."

Louise frowned. They hadn't told the teachers very much about what had happened against their fight with Foquet. Only Osmond and Professor Colbert had heard the full story, as much of it as she had been willing to say.

"Of course they mostly got it wrong," Kirche added with a smirk a moment later. "Some even seem to think all that damage wasn't because of Foquet at all, but another one of your attempts at magic. I certainly could believe that."

"You-"

There was a peal of laughter as Kirche dodged another fluffy missile of goose down stuffing.

"Where is your charming wolf anyway? Has our shining light of the hour gone for a walk again?" The Germanian asked as Louise answered with a jaundiced eye. Kirche shrugged. "Oh that's a pity, but I believe we can start without her. " With those words, she turned to the door and swung it open.

"You can come in now."

Louise had to blink as a serving maid nervously shuffled in, herded by Kirche's salamander. What was this about? She had expected perhaps Tabitha, but not this. She opened her mouth to say as much when a memory clicked into place.

"You... you were the maid from earlier, the day I was going to name my familiar," She said, more pieces falling into place, "you had that village myth about-" she cut off, turning to Kirche with an incredulous look on her face.

"You must be joking." Surely the Germanian couldn't be considering her to be a good place to start their investigation? She shook her head. "Even if there's some similarities between what she told us and what my familiar can do, it's far too much of a coincidence. If there was any truth to it, surely someone would have discovered them by now. They would be as renowned as rhyme dragons."

Her jovial expression slipped a bit as the redhead raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you have a better suggestion?"

Louise shot back with an affronted look. Of course she had! There was... there was... well the library bestiary was out. Her first year electives course had covered that thoroughly and there was no mention of magical wolves in it. There were elemental creatures who bore physical resemblance to mundane animals of course, Kirche's fire salamander being a prime example. But Shiranui's form when she had first arrived, that of stone, conflicted with her magic the night before. Elementals couldn't have more than one aspect. They just didn't...

Which meant Xander's treatise on arcanobiology couldn't be used to look for clues either. But what about... no, that didn't fit with what she knew.

Several long seconds later, she gave Kirche's triumphant smirk a glare.

"Told you," she sing songed, "there's always a little bit of truth in every myth."

"Oh just get on with it," Louise grumbled.

Still smirking, Kirche turned back to the maid, who had begun fidgeting during their exchange. "Now then, you've already told us that charming folk story of yours, but there's more to it that we'd like to know miss..." she trailed off questioningly.

"Siesta," the maid replied slowly, "but I've already told you the entire story of Shiranui and Orochi. There's nothing left about it to say."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Kirche murmured, "even if the story is over, there's always something else about it to learn. For example, where this story of yours came from."

The maidservant blinked. "Tarbes, it's a small village near the border with Gallia," she elaborated after a moment's hesitation, "we don't have any written books on the tale of Shiranui, the story is passed down by the village elders. I myself was told the tale by my grandfather but..." her eyes widened, "does this have something to do with last night?"

"I think I know of that place. Tarbes you said?" Louise interjected, ignoring the question though Kirche did give a short nod. She had heard that name before, hadn't she? A thoughtful frown on her face as past lessons of the peerage and estates bubbled to the forefront.

"It's a vassalage of Lord Vallois near the Gallian border," she recited from memory, "mostly known for their wines and obs-" she trailed off, cheeks flushing as she remembered the _other_ thing that village was known for. That particular book had not stayed in the family library very long shortly after. "Odd harvest customs," she finished lamely.

The two other listeners had distinctly different reactions. Kirche raised an eyebrow at the maid, leaning forward with an amused look whereas Siesta flushed and tried to make herself seem smaller. "It's- it's not that odd," she stammered, "it's just different, that's all."

"If you're trying to make us less curious Siesta," the Germanian chuckled, "you're not doing a very good job of it. Do tell, is it something wanton and salacious? An act of passionate exuberance after a long season of sweaty, dirty work?"

"It's... it's not like that!"

Louise was torn between wanting to put a stop to Kirche's scandalous behaviour and condemning the maid. Eleanore had written a thesis on it once, claiming that they were actually pagan rituals. She didn't think the commoners would be so foolish to do such a thing, but still... she made a frustrated noise.

"Urgh, enough," she waved her hands at Kirche in disgust. "This has nothing to do with what we want to find out." Turning her attention back to the maid, going over the myth Siesta had told them in greater detail. "You've already told us about the legend with Shiranui and that hydra, but it didn't say where the wolf came from, or where it went after this... Orochi was defeated."

"Ah, well, there are other stories about her, but I'm afraid I don't know them very well. My grandfather and some of the elders might be able to tell you more, but the only one I really remember is the one I told you." The maid turned down her eyes, "I'm very sorry."

"Well that wasn't as much of a clue as I had hoped." Kirche let out a disappointed huff, but she recovered quickly, a light grin on her face. "But it seems we do have a lead to follow. What do you say to a little excursion?"

Louise would have stared, if she wasn't overwhelmed by the desire to pinch her forehead. "You can't be serious. It's the middle of the week. Even if I were inclined to take all of this as true, we can't just skip out on our lessons."

"Oh you won't have to worry about classes," the Germanian waved off the objection, "they've been cancelled until the repairs to the Academy have been finished." She explained, a slow grin working it's way up her face, "besides, if the thought of their harvest celebrations can make you flush like that, it'd certainly be worth a look!"

"Uhm, excuse my presumption but," Siesta interrupted hastily, nervously glancing at the storm building in Louise's face. "I think your familiar, Shiranui, she may really be the same kind of wolf as the one from the stories. I don't remember very much other than the tale of Orochi, but there is this one other thing."

Louise blinked, her ire not quite forgotten, but pushed aside for now, "and what's that?"

"Uhm, I'm afraid it may sound silly," the maid hesitated, but then continued at the insistent looks from both Louise and Kirche, "it's about flowers..."

* * *

><p>"Kyuuui..."<p>

Tabitha read books. Not of academic works, philosophies or histories. Not outside of her studies. She read stories instead. Of heroes and saviours. Of good, however tainted it could become, triumphing against adversity. Of fantastical creatures and steadfast companions. In the tiny slice of the world that she permitted herself, it was the only refuge she had, something she took to at any and every opportunity.

But that did not mean she did not _observe_.

It wasn't enough to be aware of her surroundings, to know precisely where and what things lay at the corners of her vision. She had learned to read faces and postures, to know them before they knew her. Whether in the body language of people or those of animals magical and mundane, she had honed the ability to accurately read others intent to a razors edge. Words were duplicitous, easily bent to lies and deception. It was why she so rarely spoke, when the truth could be gained with some attention.

It was rare that she found herself being observed by someone equally perceptive.

Shiranui had read her intent almost as soon as she had approached, then answered in turn by following her here to the forest where no one would disturb them. Now Louise's familiar sat on its haunches, looking back at her, dark eyes patient, watchful. A single question in the air between them. What now?

Tabitha was not entirely certain. Another unwelcome rarity.

She had known the wolf was no ordinary creature at the very start. Even when the others had dismissed it as some kind of trick, she did not doubt for a moment that there was a significance behind its initial stony incarnation. She had heard professor Colbert's speculative words. He was wrong. Creatures with strong earth affinities behaved in certain ways. Steady, deliberate, implacable. Ways the fleet footed wolf did not match. Then came the stories, servant gossip that bore too much truth to dismiss entirely. Things that might have been earth magic at work, but far too complex, if not very willpower intensive, to a human mage. The resulting battle with Foquet only confirmed her suspicions.

Even then, she would have preferred to observe in silence and from a distance. Until Sylphid had revealed what she had discovered, and what she had let slip in turn.

"What are you?" She asked.

Sylphid looked at her, then warbled in confusion, wings flaring slightly for emphasis. Even under her stricture not to speak, Tabitha could see what the rhyme dragon was trying to say. She lifted her staff slightly in acknowledgement, but she would not be deterred. Sylphid would not lie to her, but she still needed to make sure.

The wolf huffed. Briefly, the forest stirred beneath a sudden gust of wind. But there was no reply, no unspoken voice Sylphid had made mention of.

Instead, the dragon cocked her head as if listening to something. The motion was gone before she could focus on it, replaced by a low trill as Sylphid brought her head down to Tabitha's level. She warbled several more times, her tail lashing about impatiently in a way that Tabitha had no trouble identifying.

For a moment, she considered her familiar's request. In the end, she nodded.

"Kyuuii," Sylphid trilled happily at the lifting of Tabitha's restrictions, but instead of speaking right away, cocked her head left, then right. Her wings subsided after a moment. The wolf remained standing and alert, attention never wavering from Tabitha.

"Big Sister says Big Sis already knows her." Sylphid's whistling voice held a note of confusion, "but Big Sister also says you don't really see her."

Ah, that sort of answer. Tabitha did not raise an eyebrow. She did not voice the obvious question even though she was as confused as her familiar, if not as much. But she did look at the wolf with slightly more intensity, thoughts gently turning over in her mind. It was not what she had asked, but it held a few answers even as it raised more questions.

"Kyuuuyuuu... Big Sister says Big Sis shouldn't ask things like that because Big Sis doesn't like being asked them." Her familiar cooed suddenly, but then quickly added, "But Big Sister isn't mad even though you asked something that you shouldn't because she thinks you're nice."

She blinked. She had not expected that sort of response, if second hand through her familiar. But unless she was mistaken, she had what she had come for. Louise's familiar would not be spreading what she had learned.

If she took the words as they were. From everything she had seen, the wolf was capricious, far more independently minded than most familiars were supposed to be. And Sylphid had called her a spirit...

The wolf continued to focus its attention her, stance alert but patient. Nothing else seemed to radiate from the wolf. By comparison, Shiranui had read her intentions like a book. She pushed down the sudden flare of concern before it could show anywhere, down where things could never be allowed. No, not all things could be read.

Shiranui huffed, flicking her tail archly.

"Why through her," she asked, after a moment, letting her curiosity get the better of her as she briefly nodded in Sylphid's direction, "not directly."

This time the wolf cocked its head to the side, making a muffled whine as dark eyes stared at her.

From the corner of her eyes, Sylphid mirrored the action, trilling questioningly as she swayed her head left and right. She cooed again, but if the wolf responded in whatever mysterious fashion, Tabitha didn't see it. A moment later, the dragon warbled, then again with more insistence, stamping lightly on the ground with a clawed foot. The wolf reacted this time, flicking an ear as she got up and walked over to Sylphid. The dragon lowered her head as the wolf approached, keening softly.

What happened next brought another blink to Tabitha's eyes. As Sylphid's head levelled with Louise's familiar, the wolf raised a forepaw, and in a very human-like fashion, began to pat her snout. A shiver ran through the dragon's body at the touch, her wings drooping slightly. A flash of worry ran through Tabitha. Louise's familiar had never shown any signs of hostility so far but... the gesture was so familiar, so full of warmth... she hesitated. The wolf broke contact after a few seconds, and Sylphid turned back to her with her head dipped low.

"Kyuuyuuyuuu... Irukukwu is sorry Big Sis." She warbled, "Irukukwu tried to ask Big Sister to talk to Big Sis properly because Irukukwu wanted Big Sister to be friends with Big Sis." Her head drooped down dejectedly, "But Big Sister won't do it."

Tabitha felt her eyes widen slightly at the revelation. Even though she never voiced the question, it hung in the air and Sylphid answered without further prompting.

"Irukukwu doesn't understand it. Big Sister says she can, but Big Sis isn't ready yet."

The blue haired Gallian brooded at this. Not ready _yet_? What did that mean? Was Louise's familiar planning something? She pushed the question aside. If there was, she doubted that the secretive wolf would divulge it like this. More concerning was the implications. As intelligent as any person, powerful in magic, and very independently minded, to the point of disregarding her mistress's orders at times. Poor qualities in a willing familiar. So...

"Why Louise?"

Irukukwu trilled at this, speaking again for the wolf.

"Kyuuyuuiii... because she asked nicely."

* * *

><p><em>What choice will you make, child?<em>

The child stood in silence, gazing upon her form with silent intent and uncertainty.

Shiranui looked back, watchful and patient. The child had learned much in a very short time, she reflected. In part, words born from what Irukukwu had learned, and those that she had given freely, spoken again in the human tongue by the dragon who called her sister. Perhaps more than the white wolf wished for others to know so soon. Once there had been those who had feared her, unable or perhaps, unwilling, to understand what they had learned. It was not a time she wished repeated.

But the past was barred to her, the Moon Tribe no longer able to provide their creations in her aid.

And this child, her ears twitched in consideration, this child had seen more than most, her thoughts and actions tempered by the trials she surely must have faced. She was not fearful nor wondrous of what she did not know, pondering the choices before her in silence until at last she spoke.

"Does Louise know?"

Irukukwu turned towards her, trilling softly as she waited for an answer.

_Oh child. All the world would know if she did. She is proud, that one. _Shiranui chuffed, flicking her tail in bemusement, _"she seeks answers as you do." _

"Big sister says little sister Louise doesn't know because she's still looking." Irukukwu warbled, bobbing her head quickly as she spoke, "Just like Big sis. Kyu!"

'_Little sister?'_

The white wolf flicked her tail in amusement as the dragon elaborated, familiar thoughts of a time long past passing by her now. How long had it been, since another had spoken for her? To speak her intent through the veil of their perception and mannerisms? Even to one such as her, it had been a very long time. Too long perhaps.

Though Issun had not been quite so large.

The child nodded as the dragons words ended. In understanding, and in acceptance, the emotions of her spirit clear to Shiranui's eyes though the child strived to contain them. She would hold this answer she had been given and refrain from speaking further, her choice made. But though her eyes remained silent, her poise still, it was not difficult for the white wolf to sense the seed of curiosity that had taken root within her.

As it had with the child she had bonded with.

Shiranui chuffed, holding this child's gaze as a familiar presence tingled upon her awareness. Her child. Seeking much as the one before her. She could see the path before them, created by the choices they had made. Tied by threads of fate and discovery in the days that would surely come.

And as both children faced a choice, so too did she. A choice she had known would come when she had been called to walk amongst mortals once more. In part, this child was not ready. But only in part. Was it the same when taken as a whole? If their curiosity was sated now by her actions alone with their eyes still unopened, would they accept her? Or would she keep her silence, content to allow them to make their way upon their convictions alone? To grow in spirit with the discoveries that were truly theirs?

She chuffed once more, quiet and wry amusement as she reflected upon the reticent thought.

Of course not.

She would not ignore the needs and hopes of those who walked beneath her light, more so the child she was guardian over, their paths twined. Perhaps, as had been done so often before, she would smoothen this path they walked. For all of them.

"_If you wish to learn more child, you must follow."_

"Kyui?" The dragon cooed, cocking her head in confusion. _"Irukukwu doesn't understand Big Sister." _

"_Speak my words as they are Irukukwu," _she said, rising on all fours as she turned to leave, _"she will understand." _

* * *

><p>Stories were not real. Tabitha knew that very well. And yet sometimes there were precautionary tales within a story that was no less valid in the real world.<p>

Not following strange but powerful beings who made cryptic promises was one of them.

She was not Ivaldi, nor would there be a hero for her when things turned for the worse.

But...

Louise's familiar craned its head behind, looking back at her. The wolf was on the verge of disappearing, having ghosted far enough along the forest path that the trees all but obscured her before coming to a halt. Her tail swished once in an unhurried fashion. The being's message clear to the Gallian who had yet to move, as if Sylphid's words were not enough.

_Come._

In one of the very few times of her life, Tabitha was unsure. For a variety of reasons.

At least human level intellect, potent magic and her own familiar's insistence of Shiranui's true nature. Willing to be bound simply because she had been asked politely? Tabitha did not think she had been lied to. Simpler to continue the charade of an unassuming creature if deception was the aim. And if it was the truth...

Put together, it was a matter that required attention. But more concerning was the wolf's admission that Louise did not know, and had no intention of informing her until some unspecified condition had been fulfilled. It spoke of a long term plan, one that being bound as familiar played a part in. There was more to Shiranui than a simple magical beast. Much more. But how much of what she had gleaned so far had been things she had _allowed _to learn? She wasn't sure.

That... frustrated her. Frustrated and warned. Human or monster, firstborn or demihuman, familiar or not, half veiled agendas often boded ill regardless of who or what their author was.

She could refuse. Being swept along with Kirche's initial impulse had told her much already. Enough to know that something bigger was at hand than a simple mystery, maybe more than she wanted to be involved with. She could drop the matter and quietly vanish beyond whatever plan Shiranui had. It did not involve her and she had little reason to suspect that the wolf would force the issue if she abstained.

There was a faint huff in the distance, the first noise the wolf had made since their... discussion. The wolf held her stare, ears flicking once. And then Shiranui was gone, ghosting past the trees so quickly as to vanish near instantly.

A moment later Sylphid nudged at her side with her snout.

"Kyuuyuuruu," The dragon warbled softly, nudging at her mistress again and flapping her wings with easily discerned intent.

Tabitha placed a hand on the dragon's snout, calming her down as she looked to where the wolf had gone. No sign of passage, no rustling foliage to give away that Shiranui had been there. For several long seconds, Tabitha thought over their exchange, uncertain. A choice had been handed to her, not small, not inconsequential.

Not if her suspicions were right.

She patted Sylphid on the snout. Understanding lit the dragon's eyes as Sylphid lowered herself to the ground. In one swift motion, Tabitha vaulted onto the saddle, holding on tightly as she spoke only two words.

"Let's go."

Perhaps hers would be a precautionary tale to come.

But somehow, that tiny voice inside, that small seed of emotion that she had thought long beyond her since that dark night, whispered otherwise.

* * *

><p>Louise had told herself that she would keep an open mind, that she would not dismiss out of hand what she had been told until she'd thought it through. Yes, myths were nine parts exaggeration, one part fact if at all, but Siesta's village legends had born enough similarities to the truth by association that they might at least possess a few clues if she thought about it.<p>

Except when she thought about it...

Very slowly, she rubbed at her temples.

"You are saying," She enunciated, not quite looking up as she emphasized each word, "that this wolf in your legend. Shiranui. Could make flowers blossom. Wherever she was."

"Wherever the wolf walked," Siesta hesitantly corrected, the maid fidgeting under her scrutiny, "the stories said flowers would burst forth from the ground wherever her feet touched."

"That... that's..." Louise paused, face scrunching in frustration as she tried to find a word to encompass her feelings. It wasn't _impossible_ to make flowers grow like that with magic. Transmutation, manipulating their inner workings to accelerate growth, there were a variety of options for the appropriately skilled mage. Her instruction in the applications of magical theory at least was not lacking. But the same instruction were also quite clear that it was the field of earth and water magic. And more than that, it was a draining exercise, certainly not something a dot or line of their respective element could manage on the scale the maid was describing if she was to be believed.

She had known Shiranui possessed a command of wind magic any mage would kill for. But now this? Magically powerful or not, there had to be limits!

Didn't there?

"Adorable? Useful? Something a fairy would do? Now there's a thought." Kirche interjected with a chuckle as she leaned against the wall of her room. "A wolf with ties to the fae, what would the bards make of that? Ah-ha!" She tapped her fingers against her lips, "Maybe she's actually a changeling faerie in disguise."

Louise momentarily put aside her frustrated thoughts to balefully look Kirche in the eye.

"You. Are not helping." She hissed between gritted teeth. The Germanian only waggled her fingers mockingly in reply. Louise scowled. Fairies... as if she didn't have enough myths to sort through without the Germanian cow adding on childrens tales on top of that.

"In any case, I don't see what that has to do with anything." She declared with a huff, "I've never seen any flowers blooming in my familiar's footsteps."

"But flowers aren't the only thing," Kirche countered, before directing her attention at Siesta, "are they? Like a certain tree?"

"What tree?"

"Uhm," Siesta interrupted nervously, lifting her hand to get their attention. When neither of the nobles said anything, she continued. "It's about one of the trees in the Academy gardens, a Serrulata. Shiranui, the wolf in the stories, was said to have favored them. And well..." the maid trailed off at the Valliere's stare, letting silence fill in the blanks.

Louise blinked, putting two and two together. That was the first time she'd heard about that fairy tale wolf having a preference for anything. But still... "Are you sure you're not simply mistaken?" She ventured. "It's not that I don't want to believe you, but if it's flowering now, surely that's because it's spring. When else would it bloom?"

"Not when it's already in the process of withering," Kirche remarked dryly, directing a knowing look in Siesta's direction. "But that was only the beginning wasn't it?"

The maid hesitated, "you knew?"

"I do have two pairs of ears between me and my darling Flame," the Germanian replied with a lazy smirk, letting the ambiguous silence fill in the rest before adding "though I dare say Louise hasn't been using hers very much if she's missed this much."

Glares should have magical power, the girl in question angrily thought. Magical, terrible power, the likes of which could burn annoying, shameless harlots to ash in an instant...

But Kirche continued to defy her will by not spontaneously combusting. Instead, the bronze skinned student lifted her hand, ticking off fingers as she spoke.

How the tree was only the first of inexplicable events. Worn down tools mended overnight, plants and flowers made healthy when they were dead or dying. A wrecked classroom, Louise flushed slightly when she realized _which _classroom, made pristine without human hands intervening. And each retelling had a single common thread. No one saw or knew who was responsible. At least, she amended the thought, not for certain.

The only exception was the tree Siesta had first mentioned, the maid piping up during Kirche's retelling to add that her familiar had been last in the area prior to it's revival. But beyond that tenuous link, everything else was speculation and coincidence. Even if it were all true, it could have been anyone, no common link between any of the events. She said as much.

"Not at all," The Germanian evenly replied before cocking her head briefly. The grin returned to her face, "but if you have a hard time believing second hand accounts-"

She gestured at the open balcony door of her room, directing the attention of the other two.

"Why not get it first hand?"

Louise frowned at the empty landing, only to realize a faint skittering sound coming outside, steadily growing closer. A moment later, the source of the noise revealed itself, the maid gasping as streak of white flashed up the ledge and onto the balcony walls.

"Shiranui!"

"Speak of the white wolf," Kirche clapped happily, "and lo she does appear."

"But... how?" Siesta stared in confusion, "this is the fifth floor."

"She's a very nimble wolf," The Germanian replied with an amused smirk and a wagging finger, "_very _nimble"

Putting her hands on her hips, Louise couldn't quite share her classmates sentiment. "Where have you been?" She sniffed, too used to the wolf's inexplicable ability to scale walls to be surprised. "You're supposed to stay by your masters side you know."

Shiranui cocked her head to the side, flicking her tail in silent reply, eliciting a humph from Louise. She didn't need words to interpret just what her wolf thought of proper familiar behavior. But before she could begin to be annoyed, there was a gust of wind, the balcony suddenly shrouded in shadow. Another figure dropped down then, landing lightly on the balcony as shadow and wind receded, the mop of close crop blue hair identifying the newcomer before her face rose.

"There you are Blue," Kirche cheered as the diminutive Gallian nodded in greeting, "on the trail of the white wolf?"

Louise sighed, eyebrow twitching in annoyance as Kirche snickered. "I know Shiranui likes to come and go as she please, but why are _you _here? Don't tell me you just saw my familiar and decided to follow her into someone else's room."

Tabitha cocked her head to the side in a fashion reminiscent of Shiranui. "Was invited," she answered simply after a brief pause, nodding in the wolf's direction.

All eyes went to the wolf at those words, most of them curious though Louise's was skeptical. "Really."

Shiranui held their looks for a moment before leaping off the balcony wall and onto the floor, she craned her head back for a moment, only long enough to send a look at Tabitha. Her ears flicked once, and then she was padding noiselessly into the room.

"Well I think that answers the question," chuckled Kirche, sending an amused grin at the wolf as she settled down on her haunches, "wanted to complete the circle did you Shiranui? Ready to reveal your true form to those looking to unravel the mystery?"

The wolf cocked her head, letting out an inquisitive whine.

"Kirche's just indulging in her stupid fantasies," Louise snapped with a sour expression, "but she has a point. Why did you bring Tabitha? I certainly didn't ask you to do that."

Shiranui turned to look at her, returning the frown with the patient stare only a wolf could manage. For a second, Louise couldn't shake the feeling that the wolf was giving her an arch reply. But the moment passed, the wolf breaking away with a huff and padding over to Siesta. She barked twice at the maid, ears twitching as Siesta started, and then once more.

"ShiranuI!" Louise exclaimed, more annoyed at being ignored than the wolf's behavior. "What's the matter with you?"

"I think…" the maid answered unexpectedly, blinking at Shiranui, "she knows what we were talking about earlier?"

A flat "what," escaped from the Valliere's mouth.

"It...well…" Siesta answered tentatively under their gathered stares, "it just seems like she's interested in what we were saying just now."

The wolf happily barked again at Siesta's explanation, flicking her tail in the air for emphasis.

Silence stretched out for several long seconds as the gathered nobles alternated sending bewildered looks between maidservant and familiar. It was broken in the end by Kirche, who chuckled as the light of realization dawned on her face.

"Well. Well well well." She grinned, directing a triumphant look at Louise, "Whose fantasies are stupid now hmm, Zero?" The easy smile as she said it made the familiar insult less mocking than usual. Somewhat.

"Sh-shut up Kirche." Louise shot back, drawing the same conclusions Kirche likely had, "I'm not convinced it proves anything. You're just guessing." She flung out an accusatory finger, "the maid's guessing too!"

She would have said more, but Tabitha interrupted her by stepping forward, a raised eyebrow encompassing the gathered nobles.

"Talking about Shiranui?" The blue haired girl asked

"The one from Siesta's village stories," Kirche piped in, "flowers blossoming in her footsteps, withered trees being restored to life, does that sound familiar?" she sent an arch smile at the wolf, "I bet it does to you."

The familiar in question cocked her head to the side, briefly curling her tail in the air. There was a softly inquisitive whine.

"Zerbst seems to think that you were the one responsible for all the going ons Siesta's been telling us about," Louise explained, "repairing things in the Academy on the sly, healing plants and the like."

The wolf cocked her head to the side, flicking her tail curiously as she let out an inquisitive whine. But not at her, Louise realized. Instead the wolf was looking towards Siesta now.

"Well…," the maid hesitantly began, only going ahead once Louise nodded for her to continue, "aren't you the one Shiranui? There have been so many strange things happening since you arrived. Things which only you could have done. And that time with the Serrulata tree, it fits with your… I mean the other Shiranui's legend."

"Which is all well and good," Louise interjected skeptically, "but even if the tree was restored like you say it was, there's still no proof my familiar was behind it."

"Is that denial I hear?" The Germanian tutted as she leaned against the dresser, wagging an admonishing finger, "with all we've seen it's far too late for that now wouldn't you say?"

"Hardly Zerbst," Louise shot back dryly, "I don't deny Shiranui possesses potent wind magic to say the least, but there's a difference between being a magical creature and some kind of grand mystical being from some sleepy village myth. Do you even see flowers blooming in her every footstep?" She challenged, "I don't."

"Honestly Zero," Kirche chided, the easy smile dropping off her face to be replaced with a frown, "Do you have to be so stubborn about everything?"

Folding her arms, she set her jaw angrily. "I'm not the one making ridiculous claims without equally ridiculous evidence, and frankly you-"

There was a chuff. It was not particularly loud nor forceful. It normally wouldn't have registered on her awareness. But Louise found her words trailing off, her train of thought disrupted as her eyes were drawn to the source. They went very wide.

What seemed like a lifetime ago, before the summoning ceremony, she had prepared a bed of straw for her familiar. As far as she knew, the pile had gone undisturbed from the very day she had summoned Shiranui. The wolf was hardly around when she went to sleep, and when she was around, ended up sharing her mistress's bed. Not that she minded very much, in retrospect. The bed was large enough and her familiar was… well, fluffy.

But the mound of straw was vanishing. No, not vanished she corrected, spotting the distinctive stalks of yellow at the bottom. But rising above them was an explosion of plants. Tiny saplings, green shoots sprouting out of the straw like uncurling fingers. A forest of plant life quickly stretching over the confines of the makeshift bed. Growing at speeds she couldn't believe. Springy stems brushed against the wall of her room as they grew, leafy branches twining around the edges of her dresser. Leaves stretched out from their stems, flaring out to their full length in an eyeblink. Flowers unfolded as their colors turned and ripened, blossoming into lilies, iris, sunflowers and more.

Seated in the center of it all, nearly hidden by the flowery growth, was Shiranui.

And though she never moved, the wolf's gaze seemed to encompass them all. Watchful, patient. Her tail flicked.

Amused.

No one said anything, unable to say anything. Questions practically bounded about within her mind, yet she couldn't find the will to speak them aloud. Siesta had covered her mouth with both hands, eyes staring in awe. Even Kirche seemed impressed, the Germanian's usual smirk fallen away to reveal unconcealed wonder.

It was Tabitha who moved first, stepping up to the wolf. Shiranui responded by pressing lightly at one of the stalks with a forepaw, pushing it towards the Gallian. Reaching out, she tapped experimentally at the flower stem with the tip of her staff. The stalk swayed, puffs of pollen escaping from the flower bud to float in the air. Shiranui chuffed, a light airy sound unlike before. Emboldened, the Gallian reached out, plucking the sunflower from the profusion.

She craned her head towards Louise then, holding out the flower.

Hesitantly, Louise accepted the flower, half expecting it to pass through her hand. It didn't, the texture of its stem and petals firm against her fingers, as real as any other flower. Her eyes drifted sideways, towards Tabitha, towards Siesta, finally resting on her familiar. The wolf met her gaze back, framed by the garden of flowers. There was a question in those eyes, somehow. And an answer. The wolf had known, though the means were a mystery, and had provided the final impetus to remove what doubts there were. All that was left was her part. Her choice.

She nodded, finding her voice at last.

"I suppose I will be going to Tarbes after all."

* * *

><p>"You disappoint, thief."<p>

The rattle of chains accompanied the rude gesture, the only sign of defiance she would bother with. She had known it would have happened, sooner or later. Killed in the act, or caught only to be executed just the same after a farce of a trial. The possibility was always there in the back of her mind, from the time of her very first heist and even after the day she had taken the title of the Crumbling Earth. It hadn't stopped her from planning bigger and better heists, thwarting whatever defenses her marks tried to put between their treasures and her.

But now possibility had become reality, with her hands bound in a dingy, chilly and dimly lit cell.

"Three striplings who think themselves warriors, one of whom cannot even call upon whole magic," the visitor said, voice devoid of malice or actual disappointment. It was delivered simply as… a statement of fact. "besting one who has evaded or defeated much cannier foes."

"A strange outcome, would you not say?" A hint of motion, the first sign of animation from the speaker since appearing.

She didn't say anything, though her attention caught on that one word. _Whole_ magic? It must have been referring to that Valliere brat, nobody in the Academy was ignorant of her failures. But why call it that? She filed that oddity away for future reference. Assuming of course that she had a future…

'_No, don't think like that. That's the sort of thinking that kills people.'_

"What can I say," she allowed, paying close attention at her guest for reactions, "it's been a strange week."

There was a short exhalation, like a laugh. But it carried a jarring alien duality within that set her teeth on edge. "Strange indeed," the visitor allowed. "Was it that strangeness that made you careless?"

She didn't react, though it took an effort of will not to twitch.

'_You're trying to spook me. But fishing for information won't help you.'_

"Things have not been following their proper course," her guest said, "and neither have you."

"Is that so?" She replied dryly, making another gesture with her chained hands, "and here I was thinking these cuffs were merely decoration."

"You are not without wit, thief." The visitor said, the jibe apparently ignored, "cunning is your hallmark. From your first move until your vanishment, you have always carried out your actions with utter meticulousness, escaping even a single sighting. Until now."

"One could think you had become overconfident, to make your move so early when there would be other opportunities," there was a pause, that same breathy exhalation again, "and one would be wrong to do so."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"A sun that does not follow its eons old pattern is a portent, an ill omen, some would believe." The visitor said. "Some are more sensitive to the signs than others."

Now both eyebrows rose, but in derisive skepticism rather than curiosity. "Oh sure," she sarcastically drawled, rolling her eyes, "the stars said I would be beaten by a trio of brats, a dragon and a blasted white wolf."

The earlier retort might have gone unsaid for all the reaction it gained, but now she had the dubious pleasure of watching the visitor twitch, if only slightly. But she couldn't have predicted what would come next.

The visitor laughed. Not loudly, and not a laugh like she would expect from a purely human throat. Not a sound of joy or sorrow. But something else. More primal, squeezing at her chest until she could almost hear the bones creak. There was a raspy, echoing quality to it that had nothing to do with the close confines of the cell walls. Had the dungeon been less damp, her hair would have stood on end hearing it.

"Do not dismiss the portents of things in motion, thief," the visitor said when the laughter had died down, "for within them there is a role for you greater than you have ever imagined."

"And you're going to let me out of here if I promise to work for you in whatever role that is," she deadpanned, once the goosebumps on her skin had died down. It wasn't exactly the smartest thing to say, but that laugh had unnerved her more than she would have liked to admit. "Well sorry, but I don't do destiny or fate."

"Of course you do not," the visitor admonished, an edge of sternness entering the voice for the first time, "and I would make you no such offer. Fate is what we are given, not offered by another. But it should be said," a gloved hand was held up, palm open. There was a shimmer in the air, and suddenly there was a wand. And not just any wand. Though she had never seen it before, the sliver of gleaming metal practically radiated power, her earth attuned senses easily sensing the latent enchantments that must have been woven into it. "That destiny is not immutable."

The hand withdrew, leaving behind the wand. Floating in the air. Just in arms reach. Maybe. If she really stretched.

She didn't. She wasn't stupid enough to make an obvious move like that. But it did confirm something for her.

"You're no servant of the crown," she confidently remarked. Just as she wasn't stupid enough to reach out for it, no guard or royal quester would be so stupid as to give her the means of escape. Which narrowed down the list of possible suspects considerably. "Gallia? Or Reconquisita?"

There was a silence where the visitor stared at her, a wide predatory smile easily imagined despite the concealing darkness.

"Shackled visionaries of small ambitions do not concern one such as I." Came the level answer, though she noticed that there was neither denial nor confirmation in it. "In the course of time they will become as irrelevant as the morning mist." There was a pause, "as might still be your fate."

She was suddenly acutely aware of the cold and unyielding stone against her back, but she didn't let it show on her face. "Work for you or die? So much for immutable destiny."

That exhalation came again, the amusement clear in that short laugh. "You see but you do not know," the visitor said. "But it does not matter, for you will understand when the time is right."

"We are our choices, thief. I will not constrain you to a single path. But whichever you choose," cloth rustled as the visitor shifted, a movement that might have been a half bow.

"I will be waiting."

And then the visitor was gone, fading into a blurred outline before vanishing as suddenly as she had arrived.

Leaving behind the wand, still hanging in the air.

Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt, otherwise known as Matilda of Saxe Gotha, looked at the magical focus and weighed her options. It didn't take very long. There weren't a lot of them to weigh in the first place. Not counting what would happen to her sister if she didn't ever go back, dying had never really appealed to her.

But whatever happened, she resolved to never let her guard down if she ever met that… woman again.

The one behind the fox mask.

* * *

><p><strong>Irukukwu's Kyuudex<strong>

Irukukwu is writing again! Yay! Not writing like Big Sis does because Irukukwu's claws are all the wrong shape and Big Sis says Irukukwu shouldn't waste anymore parchment with claws because it's not cheap and Big Sis doesn't like wasting and says if Irukukwu does it anymore then Big Sis will feed Irukukwu less. So Irukukwu is talking instead into this magic stone so Irukukwu's words come out properly and people will understand properly too. Kyuu!

**Talking to Familiars**

Talking to other familiars is super easy, kyuui! Irukukwu only needs to talk like normal, not normal normal for humans, but normal for Irukukwu. Like when Irukukwu wants to talk to Big Big Sister, or Mother or other Rhyme Dragons. Irukukwu thinks it's because of Big Sis's magic and all the other ones who got called up by their Big Brothers and Big Sisters. But it only works when talking to other familiars like Flame, kyuruuru.

If Irukukwu tries to talk to other animals, the ones that Irukukwu doesn't want to eat of course, they don't understand Irukukwu. And Irukukwu doesn't understand them back. It was lots of annoying when Irukukwu wanted to try it out at first with the forest animals and find out where the nice places were to sleep. But they all ran away and made lots of noises that didn't make any words to Irukukwu. Not at all like talking to other familiars.

Kyumph!

But Irukukwu doesn't mind too much, because it's like when Irukukwu was with Big Big Sister and Mother and all the others. Just without Big Sis and Big Sister. So Irukukwu is used to it. Also, Irukukwu got lots of yummies that day, so that was alright.

Kyui? Big Sis doesn't know about it. But Big Sis is lots of smarts? Irukukwu thinks Big Sis knows about it, and doesn't need to tell Big Sis. Well, Irukukwu told Big Sis about Big Sister, so Big Sis sort of knows anyway.

**Talking to Spirits**

Irukukwu doesn't talk to spirits much, because that's the Rhyme and Irukukwu only knows a few things to ask from the Spirits. Spirits don't talk very much to Irukukwu either. Except Big Sister of course, but Big Sister is special because she has a real body and doesn't need to be angry to have one like other Spirits, Kyu! Irukukwu can't talk to Spirits like Irukukwu talks to the other familiars because they can't hear Irukukwu like that.

When Irukukwu wants to talk to spirits, Irukukwu needs to listen very carefully. Because Spirits don't talk like humans or other animals or other Rhyme dragons. When Spirits say something, it's like a smell but not really a smell and it can be very easy to miss. But if Irukukwu hears them, then it becomes very easy to understand because words are sometimes confusing and smells are really easy to know.

But then Irukukwu needs to think really hard about what Irukukwu wants to say too. Because Spirits don't really understand Irukukwu if Irukukwu says things improperly, and Big Big Sister said that sometimes bad things can happen if a lazy dragon doesn't say them properly. Like instead of becoming human shaped, Irukukwu could become yummies instead and because Irukukwu became yummies, Irukukwu wouldn't be able to talk to the Spirits and ask to be turned back to normal so that's a bad thing.

But Irukukwu needs to think really hard too because that's how Irukukwu talks to Spirits. With words and the Rhyme, mmm! They need to be said and thought together too, or the Spirits won't hear it or hear improperly then Irukukwu would become yummies.

Or worse kyuuruuruu~!

**Talking to Big Sister**

Talking to Big Sister is different. Not like talking to spirits or familiars at all. Actually, Irukukwu thinks talking to Big Sister is like talking to other familiars, or other Rhyme Dragons. Big Sister understands Irukukwu and all the other humans really easily, even when they speak all sorts of different words and ways that even Irukukuwu doesn't understand. Big Sister is really smart kyui!

But it's really really different when Big Sister talks to Irukukwu. Because Big Sister can say lots and lots of things without speaking. Big Sister doesn't need to use her tail or ears when she says anything. Not like Big Sis who sometimes hits Irukukwu on the nose and gives her _that _look when she's really mad, but really without speaking.

When Big Sister speaks, even when Big Sister is just sitting and doing nothing, it's like Irukukwu just knows what Big Sister is saying. Even when Big Sister uses big words that Irukukwu doesn't really get if Irukukwu thinks about each word really hard. Sometimes Irukukwu doesn't get what Big Sister means, but Irukukwu thinks that's because Big Sister is asking Irukukwu to tell Big Sis things so it's not really meant for Irukukwu to understand?

Kyuuu… sometimes Irukukwu thinks maybe it's like Big Sister is using the Rhyme to talk to Irukukwu somehow.

Irukukwu doesn't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. But since Big Sister always has yummies for Irukukwu, Irukukwu thinks it doesn't matter too much.

Kyu!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well it's been a long time in coming, but I hope this chapter makes up for the delay. Had gotten halfway through it before I ran out of steam and ended up writing something else to clear the mind. And after that one ran into a block I came back here. Lot of back and forth, which required a few rewrites before it finally got to something I was satisfied with.  
><strong>


End file.
